You Must Hurt Before you are Comforted
by Dreampainter97
Summary: After a long, hard life, Victorea finds herself in a new place surrounded by new people, but her past still haunts her. Will she ever be comforted by these wacky yet friendly people? Many of your favorite Hetalia characters, including an OC, all in one story (as if that hasn't happened before).
1. Prologue

PROLOGUE

_It was dark._

_ That was all I could think about. The darkness._

_ I reached my hand in front of my face – even touched it – and nothing. I couldn't see anything._

_ I strained my ears to listen for something – anything – that could give me comfort. It didn't have to be something necessarily comforting. Just something to let me know that I was home, safe. The sound of a dishwasher or something. But I heard nothing. I brought my hand up to my ear next, snapping my fingers so close to my ears that I could feel them brush against my skin, but I didn't hear anything._

_ Then, out of nowhere, everything flashed red, and I was in pain. I screamed, but no sound was heard. Nobody was there to help me. I saw a face in that red flash, but I knew that that person wouldn't help me. _

_ He was the one that made me feel this pain._

_ I wanted someone to help me, this pain was unbearable. But to be honest, the loneliness was almost worse than the pain._

_ Anybody can take the pain of anything, but knowing that you are alone is much worse._

Victorea woke up in a cold sweat, but she did not scream. No matter what happens, she will not scream. Which was good for her, because it wasn't like she was in private. No, she was still on her plane. Which was funny, because it was only a five-hour flight, and it wasn't like her to fall asleep so quickly. She tried her best to look around nonchalantly, making sure the other passengers (maybe about fifteen or so) didn't notice her little murmurings during her nap. _Great_, she thought, _People are staring_.

However, she didn't know if it was because they saw her having a nightmare, or because they knew who she was. But the second she made eye contact with any of them, they turned away.

It wouldn't have come as a surprise that everyone here had heard of her. She was very popular for something she wasn't proud of, which is why she left Oklahoma in the first place. Everyone in that state knew her by name because of what happened, but even country-wide attention has been brought to the sixteen-year old.

Although, now that she thought a little more about it, maybe they were staring because she looked so out of place. After all, every passenger on this plane looked to be at least around thirty, with fancy suits and ties, briefcases, straight and slick hair, and had an air of authority around all of them. Whereas Victorea seemed to fit in a completely different category. She was young compared to them – easily the youngest on the plane. And she was not dressed like these people were. They appeared to be from California or some other big place, while Victorea was simply an Oklahoma farm girl (or at least, she looked like it). She looked down at her clothes, speculating the informalities.

Well, she didn't look _too_ bad.

She was wearing Maurice's jeans, so they weren't too Redneck or anything, white K-Swiss tennis sneakers, and an Aeropostale pink shirt, with a cream bandanna scarf around her neck that matched the Aeropostale 1987 logo. Sure, it wasn't any John Varvatos or Chanel, but it seemed to work. After all, this was a gift from the Social Workers who helped her.

She realized that maybe, if they didn't know who she was, that she was alone, and didn't appear to have enough money to afford an airline ticket. It would be obvious that she was alone, but the Social Workers bought her the ticket, too. _Such nice people_, she thought.

Or maybe it was because of the bruises. She covered her arms with her hands, hoping nobody would see those.

_Flight Oklahoma 485 is reaching its final destination. Thank you and we hoped you enjoyed your flight._

The neutral feminine voice on the overhead speakers snapped her out of her thoughts that had almost become disturbing again, and she looked out her window. It was fairly late in the afternoon, about seven o'clock, but the Sun doesn't set until around seven thirty in late August, so it was still easy to see below the plane. Most of the people on the plane here were headed to New York City, which was about two hours south of where the plane was going to land, but Victorea was headed only about twenty minutes away from the airport, to an orphanage. A social worker was assigned to pick her up once the plane lands and drop her off to the orphanage.

Victorea began to wonder what her new life would be like. She was going to live in a town that nobody has really heard of, but that would make it easier for the press to leave her alone.

She just hoped it wouldn't be as bad as her life back at her old home.


	2. Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

"Alfred, for the love of Queen Elizabeth, will you PLEASE stop talking with your mouth full!" Arthur yelled at his step-brother as he continued to eat an absurd amount of hamburgers while talking about how amazing the new video game he bought was. For the life of him, Arthur didn't even catch what the name of the game was.

Arthur was a sixteen-year old sophomore with an English accent – which, in all reality isn't surprising since he moved to New York last year from London. He was wearing a dark green sweater tee that appeared to be well knitted with white sleeves, khaki pants, and sneakers. He had shaggy blond hair that only slightly covered his dark, large eyebrows, but his evergreen-colored eyes were stunning nonetheless. Compared to Alfred, however, he was a little on the thin side, and not quite as tall as most of the other boys at his lunch table. His face concealed a small blush of anger, however, as he yelled at his American half-brother.

Alfred, however, was 100% American. He was a sixteen-year old boy who had short dusty blond hair and a cowlick at the parting of his bangs that seemed to defy gravity, and eyes the color of a clear summer sky behind glasses. He wore a white tee-shirt under a brown bomber jacket that had the number fifty on the back, and a star pin on the right breast part of the coat, jeans, and sneakers. He was taller and more muscular than Arthur, and seemed to have a mischievous twinkle in his eyes as he swallowed his seventh (or was it the eighth?) burger, before flashing Arthur his megawatt smile. Arthur rolled his eyes at Alfred – he was an odd one.

"Honestly, Alfred, you're the only person I know who can swallow a full-sized burger whole."

"Yuppers!" Alfred jabbed his thumb towards his chest as he continued, "I was the champion at the Hamburger-Eating Contest five years in a row!"

"Now why doesn't that surprise me…?" Arthur mumbled. "I think whoever can eat _anything_ faster than you had to have their stomach pumped."

"Actually, yes. Alfred, don't you r-remember Gilbert?" A quiet voice asked Alfred from next to Arthur, to which Alfred responded with a grimace.

"Only because you keep reminding me, Mattie."

Matthew was Alfred's twin brother, and although they looked alike, they sure didn't act alike. And not just because Matthew was Canadian, either. Matthew was wearing a red tee-shirt with a white maple-leaf emblem in the middle, jeans, and Adidas white sneakers. Matthew has the same hair as Alfred, only a little longer and curlier, with a long curl protruding from the middle of his hair and falling in front of his face, and he has almost violet eyes. He was thin as well but about the same size as Alfred in height, but he had a more diminutive appearance about him, compared to Alfred's powerful and goofy aura. In Matthew's arms was a stuffed Polar Bear about two feet in height that he clutched tightly, as if it would run away otherwise.

"Bleeding hell, that's beastly!"

"Ohonhonhon…Je m'en souviens très bien (1). Poor Gilbert had to refrain from drinking for a whole four months!" A blond-haired boy on the other side of Alfred commented.

"True, but he still didn't beat me!" Alfred grinned again. Arthur face-palmed and Matthew rolled his eyes.

Francis, the sixteen-year old French boy sitting next to Alfred, had shoulder-length blond hair and eyes the color of a calm ocean, with some small stubble growing on his chin. He was wearing a long blue button-up coat with a matching caplet, red pants and brown boots. He seemed to have a nice body figure, not necessarily macho, but almost in a lean way. He seemed to be about the same height as Arthur, so Alfred still seemed much taller.

"Wait, I didn't think it took four months to recover from a stomach pumping," Arthur asked. "I thought it took about a week at most or something."

Francis laughed the stereotypical French laugh again. "Non, mon ami (2). He continued to drink immediately after the operations were fini. Les médecins (3) had to keep pumping his stomach until he stopped drinking."

"My goodness. That seems like something the old chap would do, though." Arthur thought about it some more, and it really did seem like it.

"Ohonhonhon…Mon ami (2), you would do something like that too, non?"

"What? Belt up, you bloody Frog! That was _one_ time!" Arthur yelled at the Frenchman, his cheeks going pink out of anger and embarrassment.

"Aw, but dude, it was still _hilarious_!" Alfred said, laughing loudly. "I still have the video!"

"Oh, clear off you prat!" Arthur stuck his tongue out at his brother. Then he snickered, saying, "Or should I show them the video of when you tried to flirt with that waitress at that bar?"

Alfred's face blanched. "You wouldn't dare."

Matthew and Francis appeared interested in this, but before they could say anything, the rest of the crew sat down at the table.

"Mein got (4). De people in ze line vere so shlow!" A blond-haired German boy complained with a straight face. The brunet waking next to him continued to smile so wide that he had to close his eyes.

"Vee ~ Non essere così triste (5), Ludwig! The people in front of us were-a very nice!" He said in a thick Italian accent.

Ludwig sighed at his friend.

Ludwig was a blond-haired sixteen-year old German with slicked back blond hair, striking blue eyes, and an almost permanent scowl on his face. He was wearing a clean white tee-shirt, so you could easily see his arm muscles, jeans, and black boots, with a fake Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross necklace (6). He seemed very muscular, and about as tall as Alfred and Matthew, whereas his friend was a little different.

"Zey vere flirting vith you, Veli."

"Vee ~ I know! Erano cosí belle! (7)" He cooed in Italian.

Ludwig refers to him as "Feli," (but it sounds like Veli in his accent), but his name is Feliciano. He was sixteen years old, with a lean form and about the same height as Arthur or Francis. He had short brown hair and brown eyes (which weren't noticeable because they were almost always closed), with a strange curl on the left side that seemed to bounce as he moved. He was wearing something that resembled a white sailor suit shirt with a blue collar, necktie and sleeve bands, blue shorts, and white sneakers.

Francis laughed at this statement.

Arthur glared in his direction, mumbling, "Pervert."

This made Francis laugh harder. "Non, you are just upset that you don't get as many girls as he does, non?"

Arthur glared daggers at him. "Belt up, Frog," he repeated.

Before anything else could come of this, Alfred laughed. "Dude! I didn't even see you guys sit down!"

The others looked to their left to see that their friends Kiku, Yao, and Ivan had sat down with them. They all seemed interested in Arthur and Francis's squabbling.

"Da, ve vere just enjoying the show," Ivan said, a small smile on his face.

"I don't know, it wasn't all _that_ amusing, Ivan," Yao huffed, crossing his arms defiantly.

Kiku just smiled at them. "I think you two really need to talk things over."

Ivan was a sixteen-year old Russian boy with silky white hair and violet eyes, a baby face, and a prominent nose. He was _very_ tall, much taller than anyone else, and had a crazy outfit on considering it was almost 70 degrees outside. He was wearing a long beige coat that was only buttoned up at the top parts, with green pants (that were almost covered by the coat), gloves, boots, and a white scarf. Nobody really knew why he always dressed like it was wintertime, but nobody dared to ask, or they probably would be found the next day dead in a ditch or something. There was something about this sixteen year old that, despite his smile, appeared dark and dangerous.

Yao was much shorter compared to Ivan, and much thinner, definitely the thinnest in the group. He was a Chinese boy a year older than the rest of the group, with long black hair tied up into a ponytail and chocolate-brown eyes. He was wearing a red tee-shirt with the stars of the Chinese flag on the corners (a gift from his mother back at his home), white breeches (8), and gong fu xie (9) shoes over leg wrappings.

And Kiku was a bit shorter, about the size of China, and was thin. He had jagged brown-black hair and his eyes were so deeply brown that they appeared to be black. He was wearing a long white shirt with a black collar, white pants, and black polished shoes. He, also, was sixteen, and was from Japan.

"Oh, no. I'm not talking to this prat," Arthur scoffed at the idea. "I would rather jump off of a cliff."

"Oui, I would rather you jump off of a cliff, aussi (10) Francis said, a smirk on his face.

"Why you dolt!" Arthur grabbed his hair, and Francis whined, saying something in French that was practically inaudible, because it was so fast, slurred and panic-stricken. Everyone in the school knows not to mess with Francis's hair. "I'll skin you alive, bloody bastard!"

"NON! Not the hair! Anything but the hair!" He yelled.

Arthur, now satisfied, threw Francis back by his hair, and Francis smoothed it out, muttering "Putain de bâtard… (11)" over and over again.

Everyone laughed. "Whoa, Arthur, dude! You're showing mercy! That's so unlike you!" Alfred gave his half-brother a noogie. "I thought Francis was going to lose his whole head!"

"Well, I felt that it wouldn't be worth getting into trouble," Arthur said. Then he paused. "No, I take that back. It would be worth it, but…I suppose I just didn't want to get into trouble."

Francis scoffed. "Non, mon ami (2), it is simply because you love me and you didn't want to hurt me."

Arthur reached over to his head again. "Keep it up, Frog, and you might end up as bald as Mr. Rogers."

Francis instantly shrunk back, almost as if it was a reflex. Everyone laughed again. Their math instructor, Mr. Rogers, was so bald, you could practically see your reflection. Francis, of course, likes to look at his head when he is bent down, so he can use it like a mirror, so, naturally, Mr. Rogers hates him for insulting his lack of hair. Strangely enough, however, he doesn't have eyebrows, and his eyelashes are either really light or gone. At first, people think he has cancer, but that isn't the case. Although most people wish it was.

After they were through making fun of Francis/Mr. Rogers, however, Alfred nudged Kiku's side annoyingly. "Kiku, whatcha staring at?"

Everyone's attention turned to the Japanese student, making him blush and shrink in his seat a little. He didn't like attention being drawn to him.

"I was wondering who that student was, over there," he said quietly, pointing to something behind Arthur, Matthew, Ludwig, and Ivan. Everyone looked over to where he was gesturing, and sure enough, there was someone unfamiliar to all of them.

"Woah, who is that?" Alfred stared. "She looks familiar, though, man. I'm sure I've seen her before."

"Yes, aru. I agree," Yao said, squinting and leaning towards her direction to get a better look.

"Maybe she is in one of our-a classes?" Feliciano chirped.

"Not that I'm aware of, I'm afraid," Arthur said.

"Oui, moi aussi (12)," Francis concurred.

"Da, but she is really pretty," said Ivan, his small smile still present on his face.

Ludwig and Kiku remained silent, not bothering to give their opinion. Nobody seemed to notice, really. They do this all the time.

It was a girl, probably their age, with dusty-blond hair, but that was all they could really make out. It was hard to see her from where they were sitting, so nobody had any idea how Ivan managed to label her as 'pretty.'

"Why don't we go say hello? The poor girl looks lonely," Arthur suggested. It was true, she was sitting down at a circular table by the wall, alone, looking at the floor. As far as they could see, it appeared she never got any lunch, either.

"Yeah! I've always wanted a girl in our group!" Alfred fist-pumped. As he said this, Francis got a perverted look on his face.

"Alfred, behave. She doesn't look like she's the outgoing type," Matthew said quietly. Everyone turned to him for a second, as if thinking about it.

"Let's just go!" Yao said, standing up. "After all, we are just going to say hello!"

Everyone followed suit, much to Yao's pleasure. As they walked to her, almost single-file, she looked up. And as they sat down, her eyes widened in fear.

Arthur got a good look at her eyes. They were a beautifully stunning blue, somewhat like Alfred's, but a little darker, almost sapphire. But it was obvious she was afraid. "U-uh…I-I'm sorry, b-but there's no l-lunches f-for you to t-take…" She shrunk a little while saying this, as if ready to be punched in the face. Alfred laughed.

"Oh, don't be silly, dudette! We just wanted to say hello!"

She flinched a little at the loudness of his voice, but seemed to relax a little. She almost literally deflated. "Oh, t-thank goodness."

"Mon cher (13), why would we hurt such a delicate flower like yourself?" Francis cooed, trying to flirt. But she seemed either oblivious, or not interested. She was still slightly nervous, but nothing like before. She appeared almost terrified for her life before.

"Oh well, I don't really know."

"Hey! You've got a cute accent!" Alfred beamed. He didn't seem to think that what he said was flirty, he just liked it. Arthur face-palmed. She seemed to understand his meaning, however, and giggled. "Aw, shucks. Thanks."

"Please, miss, forgive him," Arthur sighed. "He really is a dolt sometimes."

"Oh, don't worry, it's alright," she said. "Besides, it's not me who has the accent. It's you. I talk normal," she said with a giggle.

Everyone laughed. "Da, if you think about it, it does seem like everyone else talks differently when you have a different accent," Ivan concurred.

Alfred slung his muscular arm around the girl's slim shoulders, making her flinch out of reflex. "I like you. You can be a friend of ours," he announced.

The girl remained wide-eyed, shaking, and unresponsive, until Arthur pushed Alfred's arm off, scolding him about being polite. Once his words sunk in, however, she seemed to be surprised. "A…friend?"

"Of course!" Feliciano chipped. "You can be-a in our group, bella!"

"R-really? A-are you sure?" She seemed a little taken aback by the abruptness of the situation. "I…I'm sorry, but I don't know anything about you."

Everyone seemed to deflate a little at this. So she didn't want to be friends? Well, obviously, Alfred rushed things a little too much.

"Please, love, forgive him. He's a little too forward with these kinds of things," Arthur explained to her politely. Then he held out a hand. "My name is Arthur. Arthur Kirkland."

The girl flinched back at his hand for a moment, as if he were going to hit her. But she slowly sat up straight again, staring at the hand for a moment in thought. Arthur slowly brought it down to his sides, a little embarrassed. _Is something wrong? Why didn't she shake my hand?_

"I'm the one and only Alfred F. Jones! The hero and savior of the world!" Alfred boomed, awarding a few glances from other people. Arthur hushed him as the others continued.

"I'm Matthew Williams, and this is Kumajirou," Matthew said, holding his polar bear up a little.

"I'm Yao. Wang Yao.

"Francis Bonnaparte, at your service, mon cher(13)_._"

"Ivan Braginski."

"Vee~ I'm Feliciano Vargas! But you can call me Feli!"

"Ludwig. Beilschmidt."

"Kiku Honda."

The girl looked one by one at the people as they all introduced themselves. She smiled softly at all of them. "Are all of you from different places?"

"Vee~ Si, we are!" Feliciano chirped.

"Most of de schtudents here are vrom different countries," Ludwig explained bluntly.

"After all," Kiku added, "This is a private school."

"Everyone in our group is from a different country," Arthur told the girl, not unaware that she never gave her name. "Alfred is American, I am British, Matthew is Canadian, Yao is Chinese, Kiku is Japanese, Ivan is Russian, Ludwig is German, and Feliciano is Italian. We have many other people here, too, that are from different places."

"Yeah," Matthew smiled. "Like Bella, from Belgium, or Roderich, from Austria, or Elizabeta, from Hungary."

"And," Alfred added, "there's Lilli from Lichtenstein, and Feliks from Poland, and Vash, from Switzerland, Eduard from Estonia," Alfred counted them off with his fingers, "Ravis from Latvia, Toris from Lithuania, Matthias from Denmark, Tino from Finland, Emil from…Iceland? I think? Uhhh…" Alfred seemed to lose his train of thought for a moment. "Lukas from Norway, Berwald from Sweden, Gupta from Egypt, Heracles from Greece, Sadiq from Turkey, Antonio from Spain…"

"Don't forget-a big brother Romano! He's-a from Italy, too!" Feliciano piped in.

"Yup, him too," Alfred concurred.

"And my sisters, Natalia from Belarus and Katyusha from Ukraine," Ivan piped in.

"Vee~ And Ludwig's brother, Gilbert!" Feliciano added. "He says he's-a from Prussia, but he's really from-a Germany."

"And my buddy, Im Yong Soo, from South Korea!" Alfred finished.

"Oh, but there's also Allistor from Scotland, Dylan from Wales, and Patrick from Ireland. They're all my brothers as well as Alfred and Matthew," Arthur explained. "And Peter, of course."

The girl widened her eyes at all of this. "How are all of you related?"

So Arthur, Mattie, and Alfred continued to explain their relationships. "Dude, Arthur's mom was a busy woman with too much free time on her hands," Alfred laughed. Arthur slapped him for this.

"My mum was not a whore you arse!" He whispered loudly, so as not to attract attention. Then he went to the girl. "My mum had married four men for her first twenty years of her life, each time having one child, save for the last time, when she had two. She first married a man from Wales, and had her son, Dylan. Then she divorced him, married another man from Scotland, and had her son, Allistor. Then she divorced _him_ and married an Irish man, and had a son, Patrick."

"_And finally_," Alfred finished, "She divorced him and married a man from England, and had Arthur and Peter."

"Most of them are moved away now, save for Peter and I, with me being sixteen and Peter being twelve," said Arthur.

The girl scratched her head at all of this. "Wow, a full house, huh?"

"Yep, but he didn't even get to the part where we fit in!" Alfred chirped.

Matthew spoke up, which isn't usual for him. "You see, though, it was the same with Arthur's mom, but Alfred and I are twins, and our parents divorced, so Alfred lived in America with dad, and I lived in Canada with mom. Arthur's mom married our dad two years ago."

The girl blinked. "I think you lost her," Kiku said.

"No, I understand. It's just…Surprising." She turned to Ivan. "Is that what happened with you and your sisters? You said that they were from different countries as well."

It amazed everyone that she wasn't terrified of Ivan. "Da, but it vas vith my fader."

"Your father? Jeez," the girl giggled. "I suppose we might as well _all_ be related."

Alfred stared at her, contemplating something. When she realized that he had done this for some time, she flinched back into her seat a little. "W-what are you d-doing?"

His eyes were squinted, staring at her, unblinking, and his hand was on his chin, with the other on his hip, and he was leaning very close to her seat. "Don't worry," Yao said. "That's his thinking face."

Everyone laughed but Alfred. He was still thinking. Yao continued, "It's hard for him to think, so he has to focus really hard on something to get it through his head."

More laughter, but again, Alfred was still staring at her. She was shaking now. "P-please s-stop."

Then, suddenly, he banged his fist onto the table loudly, shouting, "Aha! You're from Oklahoma!"

The girl squeaked a little at the sudden loud noise, but nodded, covering her face with her arm a little. "Y-yes."

"How did you know?" Feliciano asked. "I thought she was from-a Texas or-a something."

"I can tell by the accent," he said proudly.

"Well, congrats, dimwit. You've successfully given her a heart attack," Arthur rolled his eyes. The girl, however, giggled.

"That's fine, really. I don't mind. In fact, it's pretty neat that you guessed it so quickly."

"Vee~ I haven't the slightest idea –a where Oklahoma is!" Feliciano said like it was a good thing. Ludwig, for the first time in a while, actually spoke. "You moron, it is right above Texas."

"Oh, that makes-a sense!"

The girl giggled again. "Do y'all talk like this all the time?"

"Unfortunately, mon cher (13), oui," Francis rolled his eyes.

"Excuse me, but we still do not know your name," said Kiku quietly.

"Oh…" The girl thought about this for a moment. Arthur studied her a little as she seemed to ponder over something. She was wearing jeans, sneakers, and a yellow V-neck tee-shirt, so she didn't seem all that fancy for a private school. Then again, their school didn't seem to stress the dress code at all, anyway.

She sighed, snapping him out of it. "My name is Victorea."

Alfred gasped. "I KNEW IT! I KNEW I KNEW YOU!" He pointed at her wildly, making her flinch again. "I SAW YOU ON T.V.!"

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE :

Dun dun duuuuunnnnnn :D

Sorry it took so long, but I was really busy over the weekend. I tried my hardest, but my curfew is never going to bend to my will. :P I am only a Sophomore, anyway.

I really felt like this chapter had a lot less detail about everything than the prologue, but please let me know what I need to improve on, please. I would really appreciate advise, even if I might have a hard time changing things around :P

Also, any ideas for a plot would be nice, too. I already have a plot in mind, but if someone gives me a good shoutout, I might include it (I'll also give the username in the Authors note).

And, I noticed that I seemed to make this in Arthur's point of view more so than anything, but I really can't help it. I like him :D (I was planning on adding romance between Victorea and Arthur, but…I don't know how all of you would like that. Please tell me yes or no on that, too).

As for Victorea's name, I chose it because the name sounds like 'victory', which is a big part of the story (as you will see later), and the different spelling because it is really a different victory for her. When most people think of a victory, they think of winning a battle or fighting a war or slaying a dragon, but for her, she's overcoming her past, trying to win against fear and evil memories. A different victory. Victorea.

PLEASE REVIEW!

TRANSLATIONS AND DESCRIPTIONS :

_Je m'en souviens tres bien_ – I remember that very well

_Mon ami _– My friend

_Les médecins_ – The doctors

_Mein got_ – My God

_Non essere cosí triste_ – Don't be so sad

The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was a medal given during the reign of Nazi Germany and during World War II (Just an F.Y.I.)

_Erano cosí belle!_ – They were so pretty!

_Breeches_ – Pronounced 'britches'

Gong fu xie literally translates to 'Kung-fu Shoes'. They are the black shoes that are flexible and are common in kung fu movies

_Aussi_ – Also

_Putain de bâtard_… - Damn bastard… (sorry if it's wrong, I never learned that in French class :P)

_Oui, moi aussi_ – Yes, me too.

_Mon cher_ – My dear

ALSO NOTE:

For the people that do not know Hetalia all that well, or don't know it at all, or just don't know the human names for them:

-Alfred – America

-Arthur – England

-Francis – France

-Ludwig – Germany

-Feliciano – Italy

-Ivan – Russia

-Yao – China

-Kiku – Japan

Victorea and Mr. Rogers are my creation, and have no relation to me whatsoever. They are not supposed to personify any countries.

SUPERDUPERLONGAUTHORSNOTEISNOWFINISHED!

~Dreampainter


	3. Chapter 2

Victorea sighed. "I suppose that was going to happen sooner or later," she mumbled.

"Wait, I don't understand," Yao raised his chin up in suspicion. "What were you on the news for? You seem guilty about it."

"No, no," Victorea waved her hands defensively. "I assure you, it wasn't anything that need concern you."

"But, what-a happened, belle?" Feliciano asked, a rare frown upon his usual jubilant face.

Victorea just shrugged. Alfred thought some more. "Dang it, I forgot."

"Alright, leave her alone," Arthur snapped. "If she doesn't want to say, she doesn't have to."

"Well, mon cher, can I ask you something else, getting back to our previous topic?" Francis asked politely. Victorea nodded politely at him. "Do you have any siblings? And are they here?"

Victorea smiled sadly before shaking her head. "No, I'm an only child. The other girls at my orphanage are home schooled."

"Orphanage?!" Feliciano teared up. "Questo é terribile! (1)"

Victorea smiled at him. "It's quite alright, really." Arthur noted her quiet voice, as if she was afraid to talk any louder, much similar to Matthew.

"Can I ask you something in return?" she looked at Arthur, then Alfred, then Matthew. "Are your parents still together? Or did Arthur's mom divorce your dad?"

"No, they've divorced again," Alfred confirmed in a rarely serious mood. It seemed like everyone was immediately upset by their new friends fate.

"Oh that's a shame," Victorea thought for a moment, then said, "do you see your other half-brothers often, Arthur?"

He shook his head. "I don't see Alistor, Patrick, or Dylan often, but I see Alfred, Matthew and Peter just about every day."

Alfred coughed out the word "_unfortunately_," as if that would be indiscreet. Most of the others attempted to stifle a laugh, except Francis, who enjoys insulting Arthur.

_Brrrrrriiiiinnnngggg. Brrrrrriiiinnnnngggg._

The school bell rang, and Victorea jumped a little again. She seemed obviously on-edge.

"Where are you going now, love?" Arthur politely asked.

"Ummm…" Victorea pulled her schedule out of her pocket and neatly unfolded it. "I believe I have World Languages and Cultures next."

"Wow, I have that, too!" Alfred fist-pumped. "And so does Mattie and Artie! You can be with us!"

Victorea smiled. "I also have you three in most of my other classes so far. I was in your Science, Math, Study Hall, and Art."

"Oh, I didn't notice you," Matthew apologized. "I suppose you recognized us from there then, huh?" She nodded.

"Well, why don't we escort you?" Arthur asked, and Alfred laughed at him.

"Escort? Dude, you aren't taking her to prom, you're just going to our next class." Arthur huffed at him, and Alfred laughed again, taking an exaggerated bow and saying, "After you, malady."

Victorea looked between the two for a moment, then shook her head. Bowing slightly back to Alfred, she followed Arthur as he lead the way, with Alfred and Matthew behind. She left the others with a 'farwell' and 'it was nice meeting you' or a grunt in her direction (Ludwig), or a hug (Feliciano).

The school itself was very strange, but overall, it appeared to be in the rough shape of an 'H' for the first floor and second floor. The bottom floor was a little different, which had the cafeteria, gym, and locker rooms. The school was built on a hill, however, so the side that had the cafeteria had windows, and seniors were allowed to eat outside.

The first and second floors were crammed with thin lockers and classrooms, but not as many people as a public school. This was at one time a public school, but it was changed after the owner left, which explains its massive size (or at least large compared to most private schools).

The four headed up two flights of stairs (which, strangely enough, left Victorea almost completely out of breath), and down into the horizontal part of the 'H'. There were four doors, two leading to either end of the computer lab, and the other two were the bathrooms. The computer lab was where the class was held.

"Why, may I ask, did you come here so late in the year?" Arthur inquired just before he opened the door.

"Oh, I just got put into the orphanage. This one was the only one that would take me."

"And why are the other girls homeschooled, eh?" Matthew asked.

"Because she likes them better," Victorea said simply. While the other three were shocked into silence at this, Victorea giggled. "Not the answer you were probably expecting, I know."

"Umm, alright. Let's go introduce you to Mrs. Figoni," Alfred said, for once at a loss for words.

"Sounds good. She isn't a mean teacher, is she?"

The other three laughed. "No," Arthur said, still laughing, "she's far from it."

"Well, who's this young lady?"

Victorea was met by their World Languages and Cultures teacher, Mrs. Figoni-Provos, at the door. The computer lab was very small, with about twenty or so computers packed pretty closely together, all on the sides of the rectangular room. In the middle of the long end of the rectangle was a teacher's desk with a larger computer, and opposite of that was a window with a view of the parking lot, and farther beyond, the elementary school. It wasn't a very pretty sight, but the mountains beyond really made up for it. The students were scattered here and there around the room, and you were able to tell who was friends with whom, because if they were your friend, you'd be sitting right next to each other, and if not, you were sitting at least one table apart. Some of the students were looking at Victorea quizzically; others didn't seem to care or notice.

The teacher, however, was very sweet-looking. She was very thin and frail looking, not too tall, and appeared old, with wrinkled skin. Her brown hair was in messy waves, and her brown eyes were covered with large circular glasses that seemed huge on her thin face. She had a nice grey and white scarf on with a black shirt, grey pants, and sandals, so she seemed to have some fashion sense. She also appeared to have a kind aura about her; her voice was very soft, but not quiet.

"Madame Figoni, this is Victorea. She's a new student," Arthur told her.

"A new student? In this time of year? My goodness, that must be exhausting!" She exaggerated almost every single word in her sentence, so you could get that she was a little crazy, too.

Victorea giggled. "It's really no problem. I'm already up-to-speed on what's going on, so I should be fine for the finals and regents."

"Wow," Mrs. Figoni seemed shocked by this, and the four giggled at her expression; her eyes were wide and her mouth was open. It really wasn't all that exciting. "Well, my name is Mrs. Figoni. Figoni, macaroni, provoloni, however you want to remember it."

Victorea laughed. "Wow, that's a pretty neat name."

Mrs. Figoni touched her heart. "Why, thank you, my dear." Again, something was strange about how she amplified every emotion to make it seem comical. "Why don't you take a seat anywhere you want. It appears you're already acquainted with these three?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Oh, I love your accent, darling. Are you from Kansas?"

"No'm. Oklahoma."

"Wow, that's pretty far away. Do you miss your home?"

Victorea thought about it a little, then said, "Not at all."

~AMAZING TIME SKIP OF PRUSSIAN AWESOMENESS~

Arthur was glad he met Victorea, she was a very kind girl who understood things better than most of the dolts in the school did. But, as he walked to the bus, waving goodbye, he wondered what had happened to her.

They had literally every class together, along with Alfred and Matthew. Which was good, because, along the rest of the day, Victorea was introduced to the many teachers in her classes. Alfred waved like a maniac to her, while Matthew waved a small, quiet wave. "GOODBYE, DUDETTE! WE'LL SEE YOU TOMORROW!"

Victorea laughed at him from over at her bus, waved once more, and was gone.

As they climbed their busses, Alfred sat with Arthur, with Alfred getting the window seat, and Mattie sitting in his own seat next to them. This allowed them to all talk together.

Alfred nudged Arthur in the side. "Dude, she was something, huh?"

Arthur shrugged. Then he looked over at his American half-brother. "So you said you saw her on the news?"

Alfred looked solemn. "Yeah, but I don't really remember what it was for. I was walking downstairs, late a couple of nights ago, to get a snack, and Pa was watching the T.V., and it said her name. But something isn't right about it."

"What's that, eh?" Matthew inquired, hugging Kumajirou tightly.

"Well, she said her name was what again? Victorea Legge?"

"Uh huh. So?" Arthur asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Well, that wasn't the name I heard. I heard a color for a last name or something. Like, Red or Yellow. Blue?"

"Purple?" Mattie offered.

"What kind of names are those?" Arthur rolled his eyes.

"Silver…Pink…Green…" Mattie listed things off on his fingers.

Alfred snapped. "That's it!"

"What?" The two asked in unison.

"Green! Her name was Victorea Green on the news! I remember it because it sounded funny to me that a color would be a last name, so I peeked in and saw a little bit of it."

"What did you see?" Mattie asked, holding Kumajirou over his mouth in anticipation.

"Ummm…Something. I don't really remember…" Alfred scratched his head, thinking hard. He stayed like this for a while, before pushing up his glasses in defeat. "I don't remember. Something about a death or something."

"A death? Who's death?" asked Arthur.

"I don't remember," Alfred sulked. "Maybe I can ask Pa when I get home."

"You're no help, git."

…

Unfortunately, the boys didn't find out anything useful, because Alfred and Mattie's father (as well as Arthur's ex stepfather) couldn't remember, either.

"It's funny that nobody seems to notice her, even when she's on the telly," Arthur mumbled, defeated. He hated not knowing things, but just going out and asking this girl what was wrong really didn't seem like a good idea. Besides, they've only just met, why would you go around asking people about their personal things when you barely know the person?

Unfortunately, Alfred lacked that sense of restraint.

"We should ask her! I mean, she wouldn't lie, right?" Alfred asked the other two boys, now sitting on the morning bus.

"I really don't think that's a good idea, Alfred," Matthew said quietly. His voice was muffled slightly by Kumajirou's fur, which was covering his mouth a little. He hated rejecting an idea of Alfred's to his face, because either the American would pout until he got his way or never let the poor Canadian live it down.

"Awwww…Why _not_?" Alfred pouted. He was going for phase one.

"Because, something happened, and maybe she doesn't want to talk about it, eh?"

"I agree with Matthew on this one, Alfred," said Arthur. "I really think that going outright and asking a person you barely know why they are an orphan isn't a good idea. You might hurt her feelings."

Alfred sulked a little. "But I _really_ need to know!"

Arthur sighed. "We all do."

…

During the first part of the day (the first five periods), Alfred, Matthew, and Arthur really got to know Victorea a little more, just by her actions. She really seemed to like learning, and was very intense on listening to the teacher, taking notes on just about everything, and was very, _very_ quiet. She wouldn't talk to anyone, even the teachers, and kept to herself.

And she was _really_ jumpy. The smallest sudden noise would send her three feet in the air, and just a touch would make her flinch away instinctively. She looked down when she walked, and didn't make eye contact with anyone, only very rarely Arthur, Matthew, and Alfred. She walked a little differently, too. It wasn't very noticeable, but it was somewhat obvious that she didn't take large strides. She walked with smaller steps, like her legs wouldn't move any farther. And she wasn't very fast while going up the steps, either. There was something physically wrong with her. She also didn't participate in gym, as they had gym today, and she sat out, watching everyone else run.

Alfred asked her why she didn't run, and Victorea said it was due to an injury, but she didn't specify, and Arthur grabbed his ear and pulled him back before he could press any farther.

She was, however, very friendly and kind. As the day went on, Arthur began to wonder how she got such mixed personalities. How is it that one can be friendly to everyone, yet afraid of just about every person in the world? Once you got to know Victorea, though, she was much more friendly than fearful.

Victorea seemed to take pleasure in talking to Mrs. Figoni. The two spoke constantly during the class, and Alfred, Arthur and even Matthew joined in. The class wasn't all that strict, you could work at your own pace, and you didn't have to work if you didn't want to – it was really more like a fun study hall than anything else.

That was the class that Arthur got to understand Victorea the most.

"So," Mrs. Figoni asked, "what do you like to do for fun?" She was addressing everyone in the little group, and Alfred spoke first (of course).

"I like drawing comics, watching movies, playing video games, sports, and…" he thought a moment, and Arthur finished for him.

"And eating."

"Yesh!" Alfred fist-pumped, a common thing for him to do.

"What about you, Arthur?" Mrs. Figoni seemed really interested in everything she did, even asking questions.

"Well, I like to read, write, cook –" Alfred made a face, and Matthew stifled a giggle under Kumajirou's fur – "and embroider, I think."

"Wow, that seems really interesting," said Mrs. Figoni, clearly appearing interested. She was a little eccentric, but somehow, talking to her made you feel like you were gossiping something juicy to another teenager. "How about you, Mattie?" She was also one of the few teachers that seemed to remember his existence.

"I really like to go outside, study, play hockey with Alfred, and scrapbook," he whispered.

"Wow, I love scrapbooking, too," Mrs. Figoni said. Then she turned to Victorea. "And what about you, buddy?" She calls everyone that.

Victorea thought about it for a minute. "Well, when I have free time…Hmmm…" A pause. "I like to play piano, guitar, or the Chinese flute, draw, write, read, or go outside."

Everyone else in the conversation stared at her, making her blush and shrink back. "What?"

"I didn't know you were good at musical instruments, love," Arthur said.

Victorea shook her head vigorously. "I never said I was good. I just like doing it."

Alfred stifled a laugh. "Just like Arthur's cooking," he whispered to his twin, who stifled a giggle as well.

Arthur shot a glare at them as Victorea went on. "But I really don't have free time anymore, so I really can't do any of those things."

Again, the other four stared at her. And again, she shrunk back. "What?"

"Why don't you have free time? I mean, sure the regents (2) are coming up, but you shouldn't even need to study for those," Alfred said. "I don't."

Arthur rolled his eyes. "That doesn't make it right, you dolt."

"Sure it does!" Alfred said.

Victorea smiled and shook her head. "No, I study later at night when the others are in bed."

"Why?" Matthew asked.

"Because it's easier, and I can study harder without any distractions," Victorea replied easily.

Arthur thought about this. She isn't lying, but something's missing…

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

I know it's kinda short, but I'm low on motivation right now, and considering I have SO MUCH SCHOOLWORK TO DO I HAVE NO TIME LEFT TO BREATHE!

Sorry for the raise in font there.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! I have a natural lack of motivation, and without reviews, I can't tell if people like this story or not. What should I change? Should I add romance between Arthur and Victorea? (I REALLY WANT TO) Should I do something different? PLEASE TELL ME! D:

The main reason for this chapter was really just so you can understand the characters a little more (especially Victorea). You will also find out that she does have a hobby that she constantly does, even if she 'doesn't have time'. Mwahaha.

But without reviews, my spirit is thrown in the trash. PLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASE!

And thanks to Bloodyrose1232 for favoriting! That was really nice of you! :D

_Queso é terribile!_ – That's terrible!

Regents examinations, for those of you who may not know what they are, are really stupid end of the year tests in New York that I really don't like, cuz we have to do them on top of finals. I bet everyone else who doesn't live in New York has something like it, but it's a really important test that takes place during the last week of school. Look them up for the better definition.


	4. Chapter 3

**Note: I do not own Hetalia. I forgot to mention that before, so…If you thought I actually owned Alfred, Arthur, Matthew, Francis, ect….You are awesome and thank you for overestimating me :D (I own only the characters Victorea, Mr. Rogers, and Mrs. Figoni)**

"Aw, come on! It really isn't that hard!" Alfred whined, but Victorea continued to shake her head.

"I'm sorry, but I can't. The nurse told me not to," she said.

"It really isn't that hard, dudette!" he decided to demonstrate, jogging back about thirty feet or so from the object of his attention, a single three-foot hurdle. Arthur and Matthew were sitting on the metal bleachers outside next to Victorea. Their gym class today was either kickball or walking, seeing as it was almost the end of the year, but the teacher never paid much attention to Arthur, because Arthur hated gym class, and Matthew was practically invisible, anyway, so the teacher didn't notice. Alfred, on the other hand, was trying to convince Victorea to jump the hurdles.

Arthur, at first, tried to get him to stop, but Alfred was impossible, anyway, so there was no point in trying to stop him. Besides, he thought with a smirk, it would be fun to watch Alfred fall on his face.

Unfortunately, that thought ended in disappointment, because he ended up executing the jump perfectly, earning a small clap from Victorea and a single nod from Matthew. Alfred bowed dramatically, and they could hear the gym coach mumble something under his breath. Arthur rolled his eyes once more as Alfred jogged back to where the others were sitting.

"See? It's not that hard," Alfred beamed at a rather apprehensive-looking Victorea.

"Alfred, don't force her to do something if she doesn't want to do it," Arthur groaned. "For goodness sakes, have you any manners?"

He said this a lot to his half-brother, so, naturally, the comment was ignored. "What happened to you that got you kicked out of gym, anyway?" Matthew asked quietly, still holding Kumajirou in his arms.

Victorea again looked wary of the question, seeming to think for a moment before saying, "It's nothing that need concern you."

Alfred rolled his head back and groaned loudly. "Come on! You always say that!"

It was true, she did use that explanation often. Arthur just couldn't figure out why. She clearly didn't enjoy lying, but she wasn't telling them everything for sure. Something about the way she acted and walked and talked and moved and even breathed, however, seemed to intrigue him.

Not in a romantic way, of course.

That wouldn't be right.

No.

But why did she not tell them? She had been with them for about a week now; she should be able to trust them a little more, right? But maybe Arthur was trying too hard to let this girl spill her heart and soul out to people who, even if they are friends, are still somewhat untrustworthy to her. After all, it _has_ only been a week since they met.

Victorea smiled at him, a bright, toothy smile that Arthur hadn't seen before on her. She seemed genuinely…_Happy_. Normally, she always had that apprehensive look in her eyes, the wary posture and jumps at every noise proved that she was heavily on guard for something, but she seemed to really be letting go and enjoying herself. Something about that smile stirred his gut up a little, and he couldn't help but smile, too. He could see that on the other side of her, Mattie had a small smile playing his lips as well, and Alfred...Well, he was almost always smiling, anyway.

She laughed somewhat louder than she normally laughed. "I'm just telling you the truth."

"Well!" Alfred huffed, but his smile never vanished from his face. He crossed his arms and raised his chin up a little. "Then I won't tell _you_ _my_ secret!"

Victorea laughed again. "Oh?"

"What so funny about that?" Alfred looked genuinely confused.

She continued to laugh as she said, "Well, excuse me for saying, but –" she stifled a giggle in her hand before continuing – "You just don't seem like the type of person that can keep a secret."

Arthur barked a laugh. "You, my dear, are spot on."

Alfred grimaced. "Aww, no fair. Please tell me! Please please _please_!" Victorea smiled again – something fluttered in Arthur's stomach – and shook her head. Arthur noticed the way that her sandy blonde hair caught the sunlight – obviously due to curiosity, not affection.

No.

"Sorry, Alfred. My lips are sealed," and to emphasize this, she made a zipping motion across her mouth. It was strange, because whatever happened, she was almost making a joke out of it.

"Bitch," Alfred huffed, defeated.

Arthur hushed him immediately. "Don't use words like that to a lady, that's impolite."

…..

World Languages and Cultures had been the favorite class of Arthur, Matthew, and Alfred, and with Victorea, it made it a lot better, because she always amused everyone with her appalled facial expressions at some of the…jokes that Alfred told. And it was strange, because it didn't even seem like she knew what they were talking about, but still understood the meaning of what was being said.

Maybe that was what was interesting about her. She understood things without really knowing what was going on, if that made any sense. It was like when Alfred once hinted at the divorce between his parents, saying, "Well, when Mom and Pa divorced, I was able to get my own room when Mattie left." And while he said this with a smile and a hint of pride, Victorea still looked at him sadly, as if understanding that he was hurt by the divorce, even if she knew nothing about it herself. That was also something strange; she was very sympathetic. She not only understood things, but cared about them, too. That takes a lot of mind and heart coordination, and most people don't have that ability. If they understand, they usually don't care, and if they care, they usually don't understand.

Arthur found himself yet again lost in the memory of her smile earlier as she listened to Alfred praise the Lord that it was Friday and that they only had two periods left before the weekend. Honestly, Alfred had a hard time seeing past the weekends.

But he naturally decided it was curiosity for a girl who showed up randomly towards the end of the year with no background given except that she was from Oklahoma and her fellow orphans don't like her. It had nothing to do with her bright blue eyes, sandy blonde hair, soft, creamy skin, dazzling smile, kindness, or that accent. Nope.

Not at all.

"So what do you think?" Arthur snapped back into reality (not like he was lost anyway) when he heard Alfred's voice. For some reason, Victorea was looking back at Arthur. Looking _back_? _Oh, no. I was staring, wasn't I?_ Arthur mentally face-palmed, but Victorea didn't seem annoyed or even scared like she always is. She seemed…Intrigued, or curious. And her slightly raised eyebrow and sparkling eyes gave away the unasked question, _"What are you looking at?_"

Victorea seemed to not hear the question, so Alfred, being as impatient as he is, asked again, "Dudette, what do you think?"

Victorea seemed to snap out of a daze, which forced Arthur to hide a snicker behind his hand. _She_ was looking at _him_. That thought made his snicker melt into a small smile.

"Well, I don't really know," Victorea suddenly felt that her hands became interesting, because she folded them neatly on her lap and stared at them apprehensively. "I…I would have to take it up with Mrs. Mervosa, so…"

"Wait, what are we talking about?" Arthur asked, puzzled.

Alfred snickered at him for a moment while Victorea turned her attention to the window, then said, "Dude, Mattie and I wanted to invite her over for dinner or something." Arthur was about to protest, opening his mouth and raising a pointer finger at Alfred, when Mattie spoke up.

"Don't worry, Arthur. Alfred promised that he wouldn't bring her to McDonalds." Arthur closed his mouth and lowered his hand.

Victorea laughed a little at this. Arthur looked between Alfred and Matthew, a little hesitant to let her come over for dinner. They had only known her for a week – or since Monday, at least – so why would Alfred and Mattie allow her over? And why did they not include him? And why was he overthinking _everything_?

"Are you sure about this?" he asked. "I mean, does your father know about this? Did you put it up with him?"

"Yes, we did," Mattie confirmed quietly. "He was fine with it, as long as Alfred doesn't overwhelm her with junk foods and video games."

Alfred raised his hands defensively. "_Both _of which I promised not to do to her."

Victorea laughed again, a little louder this time. "I'm guessing he'd be mad at me if I told him I don't know what a McDonalds is, then?"

This time, all three of the boys stared at her, dumbstruck. Alfred fumed. "_How could you not know what McDonald's is!? SERIOUSLY?!_"

Mrs. Figoni put her index finger to her lips and shushed him quietly. Alfred hunched down a little, hating being scolded by an adult. That was one thing about him that took a while to see – he was kind. He hated doing the wrong thing unless he felt it was completely right, and he felt guilty when scolded by someone older than him because it made him feel like he was doing something wrong.

A couple of other people began to stare now, curious. It was plainly obvious to everyone what a McDonalds was – everyone in America has at least _seen_ one and most have been to one at least once in their lives.

Victorea looked a little scared and hurt. "I-I'm sorry, but n-no." It was easy to read her emotions, Arthur thought. Or at least, it was easy to tell when she was afraid. She was slightly shaking – something about Alfred's yelling terrified her.

Arthur felt bad for this girl and scooted his chair closer to her, rubbing her back in what he hoped was comforting. It seemed to work, she stopped shaking and had straightened her back a little more. But there was a really funny feeling he got when touching her – his hand felt numb and he almost saw lights in the corner of his eyes, but he shook that off as a headache symptom – even if his head didn't hurt. Maybe it was a stomach problem – his stomach felt weird all of a sudden, like it flipped a little.

Alfred was snickering again at him, then looked over at Victorea and tried to cover it with his hand. Mattie next to him was just smiling his pleasant smile, but he was looking between the both of them as well.

"Oh, ignore him, love. He's very…Persistent…about his _junk food_," he practically hissed the last two words, glaring in his direction. How _dare he_ yell at this poor girl? How_ ignorant_ can he possibly be? Alfred snickered a little more before completely wiping it off of his face, realizing that Arthur only gave _that_ glare when he wanted to rip someone's eyeballs out with a spoon and shove them in their ears.

"Well, we'll have to change that, but I promised nothing like that," Alfred waved it off. "We'll cook something nice up for her, so long as Arthur stays out of the kitchen."

Arthur snorted, but an embarrassed blush still crept up on his cheeks. "Oh, belt up."

Victorea laughed again, and Arthur realized with a deeper blush that his hand had stopped rubbing her back and it now just rested there, admiring the soft fabric of her casual clothes...But what was so rough about it? There was something else in the fabric that seemed rough, but Arthur withdrew his hand too quickly to figure out what it was, and he wasn't going to try that again.

"I'd love to go, actually. I'd just have to ask Mrs. Mervosa…And I don't know how she would put up with that."

"Why wouldn't she like that?" Matthew asked.

"I don't know," Victorea shrugged. "She's not a very open person."

"Well then if you _can_ go," said Alfred, "can you come over tomorrow at around five o'clock-ish?"

Victorea thought about it. "Well, if I can, I will."

Everyone laughed at this.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Thank you very much for everything!

Actually, I have no idea why I said that :P

I got a comment a while ago asking me to continue, but I had family come up from AZ for my birthday, and this _was_ finals week in school, but I tried. And when I tried to post this, my ridiculous computer continued to freeze on me.

I'm gonna add little chapters here and there about Victorea conversing with the other characters, so if you really want to see anyone, please request! I'll try my hardest to add them in!

And PLEASE review! Let me know what you want in here! Like, if I've made someone out of character, let me know!

Thanks a bunch :D

~Dreampainter


	5. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I am not awesome enough to own any of the Hetalia characters. I only own Victorea, Mrs. Mervosa, the four orphans, and the father and mother of Alfred and Matthew (and sorta Artie).**

Victorea took the bus home, as usual. It wasn't anything different, but she felt like she could throw up. Asking a favor of Mrs. Mervosa was signing a pact with Satan. Victorea was lucky that Mrs. Mervosa allowed her to go to Church on Sundays. She didn't know what type religion she practiced.

Maybe Satanism, she thought with a small chuckle.

She was the last person on the bus every afternoon, and the first one on every morning. This was good, considering she didn't want anyone to find out where she lived – someone might know who ran the orphanage and maybe try to get her out of it; which wouldn't have bothered her before so much if it weren't for her new friends. She had never had friends before. So if she were moved to a different orphanage, it would most likely be away from the school she loved so much. She didn't understand how having friends could make such a difference in her life, but it did.

The bus stopped off at what appeared to be nothing, snapping Victorea out of her thoughts. The bus was on a small dirt pathway that formed a "U", just barely large enough to fit the bulky vehicle. At the curve of the "U", the bus driver had stopped, and Victorea thanked the elderly man as she did every day, and walked to the very tip of the "U", hearing the bus drive away but not looking back, knowing full well that the driver was a little confused as to her location of departure. Nobody seems to know that there is a house back here – a very large one, at that – so the bus driver seems to think that she lives in the woods. She giggled a little at the thought.

She walked through the trees for a few yards, and found what she was looking for – a small dirt path only big enough for one person to walk on. She followed the path, admiring the nature around her. The path went along for about a half a mile or so, so she made due with the time by smiling at the deer and squirrels and thinking about random things. She liked to be alone outside to think, it was something she deeply enjoyed for reasons she could not explain.

And this time her mind wandered over to Arthur. She usually let her mind wander to think about whatever it wanted, but she was wary about this topic of thought, so she tried to think of something else – the daisies flowing in the wind, the birds singing, anything. But her mind wandered where it wanted to. Why did she want to think about him so much, and why was she afraid to?

_Stupid brain_, she thought darkly.

But she gave the organ what it wanted, and let it think about him. She liked his accent. She liked all of the accents of the students at her school, they were all unique to their country. But there was something about his accent that she really liked. A smooth British accent that really only cracked when he was yelling at Francis or Alfred. And she liked the way he called her "love." She had never heard him call anyone else that. She dismissed the blush creeping along her cheeks as she thought of his bright, grass-green eyes as the heat of the late May sun.

_Late May_, Victorea stopped in her tracks for a moment, before continuing, shaking her head slightly in surprise. _My birthday is tomorrow. I must've forgotten. Today is the 29__th_.

….

"ALFRED FRANKLIN JONES YOU BASTARD!" Arthur screeched at his half-brother, chasing him around their large living room. "GIVE ME THAT BACK OR SO HELP ME GOD –"

"Awww, come and get it, Artie!" Alfred laughed manically, using his superior strength against Arthur. He was holding a book.

Matthew sat on the couch silently, watching them with a detached interest as they squabbled. This was an everyday occurrence, really, so it wasn't anything important. Kumajirou was propped next to Matthew as he raised an eyebrow at Alfred – he had stopped and merely held the book up high, out of Arthur's reach. Arthur struggled as he tried to reach it, with Alfred standing almost completely still, a wide smirk on his face.

"Alfred! Arthur! That is _enough_!" A male voice boomed from another room, and everyone froze, eyes wide. Alfred quickly dropped the book, and Arthur slowly reached down to pick it up, as if the slightest noise could set their father off. When he yelled, he meant business.

Arthur slowly walked back to where he was sitting, a large armchair, and opened the book up again. Alfred sat on the couch next to Matthew, with Kumajirou between them.

"So…" Alfred began, kicking his legs up and down childishly, "What do you think we should do for Victorea when she comes over?"

"What?" Arthur looked up from his book, a look of surprise on his face. "I thought Victorea had to ask first. Did she confirm?"

"Well, no," Alfred rubbed the back of his neck, "But she said she didn't have a phone available to her, so she couldn't confirm it. The only way we'll know is if she…I dunno, shows up or something."

"Dammit, Alfred!" Arthur put his book down on the end table face-down and open. "You should have done something! She could write a letter to us or something like that!"

Alfred laughed at the idea, all three of them knowing full well that writing was not an option. But then his face changed dramatically as he stopped laughing abruptly and appeared horrified at something, staring at the wall.

"What?" Arthur raised an eyebrow.

"Uh oh, Alfred," Mattie seemed a little scared, too. "You forgot to give her our address, didn't you?"

Alfred nodded, looking ashamed. "Son of a bitch, how could I have forgotten that?"

Arthur cussed under his breath at his brother's stupidity.

"Well, I know her address, at least," Mattie said simply. Both of his brothers turned to look at him, and his twin poked him in the side to tell him to continue. "Well, Gilbert rides her bus, and he likes to talk to the bus driver, and he said that he was confused that she had to get dropped off at the Leander Curve."

"The Leander Curve?" Arthur tilted his head. "Isn't that just a big dirt road?"

"I think so," Mattie confirmed. "Gilbert said he asked about it a little more, because he was curious about her, too, and he said that he just dropped her off at the farthest point of the turn, and she walked into the woods on her own. He said that he didn't think there was any house there, so it must be really new."

Alfred thought about this. "Well, maybe we can go to her house and ask her about coming over!"

Arthur was beside himself at this. "Are you kidding? Go to her house _uninvited_, to ask her about coming _here_?"

"Why not?"

"You dolt, that's impolite!"

"We all know that you want to see her real bad, dude. It'll be fine," Alfred said, a small smirk gracing his lips.

Arthur blushed a little at this. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sure you do, Artie!" Alfred seemed to be enjoying this. "You _liiiiiiiiike_ her, don't you?"

Mattie rolled his eyes. "We better get going, then."

"Right," Arthur agreed, ignoring Alfred's cooing and singing, "Arthur and Victorea, sitting in a tree…"

"Can you drive us, Arthur?" Mattie asked politely.

"Course, I didn't get my license just to show it off," Arthur walked over a little to the hallway, calling, "We are going out for a drive, we'll be back soon!"

There was a pause, then, "Alright, you be safe!"

"We will!" Arthur called back. Then he turned to his brothers, both of whom were already at the door, Mattie hugging Kumajirou and trying to silence his twin's singing of "First comes love, then comes marriage…"

….

Victorea reached her orphanage, sighing. It really was a lovely place, just not with lovely people.

The house was a two-story Arcachon villa that was really beautiful to look at. It had white, almost marble walls with a brick design on the top floor's walls, a patio on both floors that stretched over the front of the house, a brick-red roof, and white shutters. All around it were trees and bushes, and the lawn was very well-trimmed. (1)

She sighed before walking into the building, walking up the steps to the large wooden door. She knocked, waited, and when nobody answered, she let herself in. This was the typical thing for them, because they said that Victorea was not worth answering the door over, so Mrs. Mervosa said to just walk in.

The inside of the building was grand, as well. A large living room with no ceiling so that you could see upstairs, and a large staircase that wound a little to go upstairs. There wasn't a lot of furniture, mostly a large couch with a side table on one side, a lamp on the other, and a coffee table. There was a bookshelf full of books that lined the wall, and on the other end was another door that led to the kitchen.

"There you are," a woman hissed as she walked down the stairs. Victorea knew that there was nothing upstairs but a hallway that led to the other orphans rooms, four of them, and Mrs. Mervosa's room. Victorea slept in the barn.

The woman was tall and thin, with a permanent glare set on her face. She was wearing a red dress with a green amulet necklace, and her shoulder-length hair was beginning to grey from its original black, but she was rather pretty, if you exclude the hate in her brown eyes and her constant scowl. That was Mrs. Mervosa.

Victorea only nodded in her direction, she was ordered not to speak unless told to by Mrs. Mervosa and Mrs. Mervosa only – the woman couldn't stand her accent.

"I want you to clean the floors downstairs. You did the upstairs yesterday, is that correct?"

Victorea nodded again.

"I couldn't tell. Do them again, as well. And when you're done, you can go out to the barn."

Victorea bowed her head to the woman in respect, trying to hide a smile. She loved the barn. There were no horses in it yet, but she imagined there were.

Before Mrs. Mervosa left, Victorea remembered what she needed to ask. "Mrs. Mervosa?"

The woman turned back to Victorea and scowled, her voice shaking a little as she asked, "Yes?"

"I was wondering if I could go to a friend's house later tomorrow, if that's alright with you."

She glared at Victorea for a long time. It felt like forever. Victorea could see a reason why Mrs. Mervosa would _want_ her to go, and a reason why she would_ not_ want her to go. If she left, she would be out of their hair for a while, which is what they like. But she might want Victorea to stay and do chores, so it was very uncertain.

"Let me think about it for a while, alright?"

Victorea held back a sigh of relief. She was afraid she'd be punished. She nodded once in her direction, and stood there until she left, which was polite to do (at least, Mrs. Mervosa thought so). Then she walked to the kitchen area, which was a typical modern kitchen, and went to the closet that had all of the cleaning supplies in there. She grabbed the bucket, a cloth, and some Pine sol. As she filled the bucket with water, she decided that she didn't mind the chores that were always given to her as much as other people would. Sure, she'd rather do something else, but this was at least productive.

….

"Are we there _yet_?" Alfred mock whined. He wasn't being serious – the ride was only ten minutes long – but he liked to get on Arthur's nerves. It was really easy, anyway.

"Yes, Alfred," Arthur hissed between his teeth, his grip on the steering wheel of his black PT Cruiser making his knuckles white. "We are here."

"Wait, really?" Alfred looked quickly out his window – Arthur stuck him in the back with Matthew in the passenger seat – and sure enough, they were turning into the Leander Curve. The dirt crunched under the tires as the car made its sharp turn into the abandoned road.

"So you said it was right at the end of the "U"?" Arthur asked as he stopped the car at the curve of the road.

"Yes," Mattie answered. "You can even see the tracks left by the bus."

It was true – the tire tracks were from the bus, unless there were other people who had to make a turn here.

"Okay, so…" Arthur looked around. "Where do we go from here?"

Alfred pulled out his iPhone and began typing in it quickly. Arthur was about to scold him for pulling it out when he held it up to the both of them. It was Google Earth, and Alfred had pulled up a picture of the Leander Curve. Arthur raised an eyebrow, and Alfred scooted in a little closer so he could see the screen too, and scrolled up a little. A large house sat in a clearing not far from here.

"That was a bloody brilliant idea, Alfred. I'm impressed," Arthur crossed his arms.

Alfred beamed. "A hero never gives up!"

Arthur rolled his eyes and looked at the map again. "We should start walking then."

"Alright with us," Mattie piped in quietly ("us" meaning Kumajirou and himself).

So they began their walk through the woods.

….

Victorea was continuing her chore, her knees and one hand that she used to prop herself up with hurting a little, and her back aching, but she didn't mind. She continued to think about the story of Cinderella as she worked, imagining her happy ending. She hummed happily to the song she loved to hear as a little girl from her mother, "Sing Sweet Nightingale," which also suited the situation, seeing as the scene that Cinderella was singing this in is similar to Victorea's situation. She smiled at the idea. She's like a princess.

Before she could finish the otherwise short song, she heard a knock at the door. _That's unusual_. Nobody usually knocks on the door unless someone is here to adopt, and that has only happened once, and Mrs. Mervosa nearly sent the couple running when she glared at them, because they wanted to pick Victorea instead of the other four girls.

"Girls!" _Speaking of the devil_…Victorea thought. "Get ready! We might have an adoption! You know the rules!"

There was no noise heard other than Mrs. Mervosa's heels clicking on the marble stairs, but Victorea guessed they were in their rooms, and that they heard. Victorea didn't speak, because she knew that Mrs. Mervosa didn't want Victorea included in her pampered girls show, but she looked at the evil woman, and she flicked her hand at her to tell her to keep going with what she was doing.

Victorea looked down at her clothes. She had her apron on, so if it _was_ an adoption, the people wouldn't guess she was available. _Oh well,_ she thought, continuing her working. _I'll have my chance eventually_.

The doorbell rang again, and Mrs. Mervosa straightened her dress and combed her fingers through her hair before opening it. Victorea didn't bother to look to see who it was, in case she would get yelled at, but when the person spoke, her heart both dropped into her stomach and leaped into her throat. It was a weird feeling.

"Hello, madam. We're just here looking for Victorea."

It was Arthur.

_Oh no_.

There was silence for a moment, and Victorea could almost feel the angry electricity crackling through the air. Victorea cannot have guests over uninvited, and Mrs. Mervosa never confirmed whether Victorea could go to their house or not. _This is bad._

"Victorea?" Mrs. Mervosa said through gritted teeth. Victorea finally looked up, and was surprised to see not only Arthur, but Alfred and Matthew as well. They were all looking past Mrs. Mervosa at her, appearing shocked and scared. It must come as a shocker to see their friend being enslaved, but they also looked afraid of the woman standing in front of them. When she called Victorea, she did not look back at her. She never looks at Victorea directly unless being punished. She believes that Victorea is lower than her, therefore Victorea does not deserve the respect.

She gulped.

….

The woman standing in front of Arthur looked like she wanted to transform into a lion and swallow the three of them whole. Something about her appearance chilled Arthur to the bone, and when she called for Victorea, it sounded like she wanted to spit.

But what was really strange was seeing Victorea. She looked like a slave.

She did not speak, but he could see her slowly get up. She looked terrified. "_Who_ are these boys?" Victorea shuffled her feet, again saying nothing. "Are these people your friends you asked me about earlier?"

"Yes, ma'am." She was shaking.

"And did I _approve_ of your offer to spend time with them?"

A pause, then. "No, ma'am."

"So _why_ are they here?" She did not look at Victorea, but continued to glare at each one of them, as if sizing them up.

Victorea shuffled her feet again and mumbled something.

"_Speak up!_" the woman shouted at her, finally turning.

Victorea looked momentarily stunned, before looking at the floor again, saying, "I don't know, ma'am."

"You. Don't. _Know?_" she practically hissed.

"Um, madam? If I'm not interrupting anything," Arthur interceded. The woman – probably Mrs. Mervosa, if he remembered correctly – turned back to glare at him. Victorea behind her looked grateful. "Victorea did not know we were coming. We were never given a phone number or e-mail, so we couldn't know if and when she was arriving. We're sorry if we caused any trouble."

Mrs. Mervosa looked at them again for a moment, thinking. Then, she smiled. It looked painful. "Well, alright then." Behind her, Victorea looked completely taken aback. It appears that she doesn't smile often. "Victorea?"

She barked the command like a dog, and Victorea immediately walked over next to her. She said nothing, but looked at Arthur, Alfred, and Matthew pitifully, as if apologizing. She looked like an abused puppy.

"Get yourself ready. You are allowed to spend the _entire_ weekend with these boys." All four of them blinked in surprise. _The whole weekend? This can't be good_. Victorea was a little hunched over, nodding once. Before she could pull away to get ready, however, Mrs. Mervosa snapped, "Pull yourself together!" Victorea straightened her back, a blank expression on her face. Like a _trained_ abused puppy, then.

"I want you to understand that when you get back, your chores will be _tripled_. Is that clear?" Her smile faltered into a frown again.

Victorea nodded.

"And that while you are gone, the other girls will have to do the chores. Is that clear?"

A look of terror crossed her face, but she nodded. Arthur didn't understand why that was so bad. Triple the chores would have been the bad one, but letting his siblings do his work was never a problem for him.

Mrs. Mervosa turned to Victorea and looked her deeply in the eye. Victorea kept her composed posture, but her eyes gave away that she was petrified. "Then do as I ask."

"Y-yes ma'am," Victorea nodded.

"_DO NOT SPEAK UNLESS NECESSARY!_" The woman screeched, and Victorea backed up a little, nodded once, and practically ran into the house and into another door that was open, revealing a kitchen. The woman watched her go, then slowly turned back to the three. Her voice was much quieter in comparison to her yelling. She did not bother to smile. "Have a good day."

And she slammed the door shut, inches away from Arthur's nose. There was the faint clicking of heels for a while, then faded away.

There was a long pause before Alfred said, "Well. That was something."

"_She _was something." Matthew muttered, shaking a little. Alfred put his hand on his twin's shoulder and rubbed a little.

"_How_ can Victorea _live_ with that wretched bitch!?" Arthur hissed under his breath, just in case the woman was still at the door. "When I get my hands on that…that…" His fists were shaking.

"Dude, calm down. I know she's a bitch, but we can't do anything about it." Alfred rolled his eyes. "Honestly, why are you getting so worked up over this?"

Arthur's fits unclenched, and he looked at the door, surprised. "I don't know." He squinted. "She was rude. She had no right to just slam the door in our faces and…And look at us like we were nothing b-but _dirt_ under our shoes and…And she should _not_ have yelled at Victorea! Victorea had nothing to do with this, and she got yelled at for _answering a fucking question_!"

The twins exchanged a glance, knowing that that was what really got on his nerves. But before Alfred could start his singing again, the door opened again, and Victorea walked out, turned, shut it quietly, and then smiled softly at the trio of boys. "Sorry for that. We should be leaving, before she changes her mind."

"A-alright," Arthur stuttered, surprised at her behavior. It was as if nothing happened. And as he led her to his car, he wondered what she really went through.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

I'm sorry this is late again. I had finals to study for :P

But I'm done now, and I'm getting my surgery July 8th, so during my recovery, I can write a bit more.

I'm still open for requests on a "Lazy Day" chapter. I will call any chapters that have no significant meaning to the original storyline a "Lazy Day" chapter, because it will probably be a character or two doing something lazy like taking a walk in the park or something like that. I'm open for requests as for what you want to see in these chapters (please keep them rated T though). I would love to include not only Victorea, Arthur, Mattie, and Alfred, but if you guys want to see some action from some of the other Hetalia characters, please let me know :)

So we learned more about Victorea's life at the orphanage, and I hope you are at the edge of your seats right now wondering about her :) More will be revealed during her stay at the boy's house, I will tell you that much.

Have a wonderful day!

~Dreampainter

I got this design off of a Wikipedia page, and I'll give you folks the link to it so you can get a better picture of it:

wikipedia/commons/c/cd/Villa_


	6. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I wish I owned Hetalia, but that would be too much work…**

"So, here it is," Arthur opened the passenger door for Victorea, and she thanked him softly as she stepped out of the car. She looked at the house and smiled. "What do you think, love?"

"It's beautiful."

It was a craftsman-style bungalow with grey walls all around the house, and the second floor wall, which was painted a maroon, was separated by a porch with an iron fence. There was a porch on the front of it that was made of brick, and it had a lovely brick chimney and slightly darker grey gutters and pillars. (1)

"Well, thanks!" Alfred clapped her on the back, making her flinch, wincing. "Sorry," he retracted his hand quickly. Victorea nodded at him and tried to stand back up straight as he continued. "This is where I live constantly, but Mattie is here to finish off the rest of high school, and Artie came here last year, and he's gonna finish here, too. So we'll all be living here with Pa until we graduate. Then…" He trailed off before chuckling. "Well, I dunno what we're gonna do."

Arthur huffed. "Unlike him, Matthew and I have a plan."

"You do?" Victorea seemed interested, but they were cut off when their father spoke, "Boys! Who is that?"

"Oh shit," Alfred cursed. "We didn't think that you'd be coming today, see," he explained to Victorea as Arthur stepped up to their father who was standing at the doorway. He didn't look mad, however, but curious. "We didn't tell him we invited you yet."

"I thought you had to ask a parent before inviting someone over," Victorea whispered back.

"We are," Matthew slapped his brother on the head. "Doofus over here didn't think about it when he invited you."

"Well, Artie needed a pick-me-up, so I thought she could help," Alfred told Matthew, and Victorea opened her mouth to ask what he meant, but was interrupted by a deep, rusty male voice.

"So, are you Victorea, then?"

Victorea froze for a moment, a deer caught in the headlights, as their father's shadow loomed over her. She didn't move.

"Umm…Dad, I think you scared her," Matthew peeked over at Victorea as Alfred waved his hand over her eyes to snap her out of it.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." He laughed a deep, hearty laugh, and that seemed to loosen up Victorea's muscles a bit more. Arthur looked over at her in confusion as she looked up at their father.

Yes, she looked _up_. He was _very_ tall. Almost six and a half feet tall. He was tanned, but not to a point where he looked like a leather couch. He had a nice, natural tan that looked like he had worked out in the sun his whole life. He also had laugh lines on his face, and scraggly blond hair, and a bit of stubble growing on his chin. And he had _muscle_. He would probably have been really handsome if he were a teenager.

But there was something that made Victorea look like she wanted to laugh and pass out all at the same time. "I'm sorry for scaring you, Victorea. I'm the father of these three, but you can just call me whatever you'd like."

"Alright," Victorea smiled. "It's nice to meet you. You already know my name, though. I suppose that kina ruins my introduction."

He laughed that hearty laugh again. Arthur smiled. His laughter was contagious. He had a habit of holding his belly while laughing that would have made him look like Santa Claus if he was old and fat.

"Well, why don't you come in, Victorea? I've made steaks, and there's enough for you, too."

"Really?" Victorea seemed a little…excited? She almost never sounded excited. "That would be wonderful, Mr. Jones!" She looked nearly childish. It was cute. _What am I saying?_ Arthur mentally smacked his head. _Don't think those things. They are improper_.

"Sure, kiddo," Mr. Jones laughed again. "Come on in!"

Victorea looked at Mattie, then Alfred, then Arthur, as if to make sure it was okay. Arthur smiled and nodded. Victorea smiled back and followed Mr. Jones inside.

Victorea stopped when she was in the doorway. "This place is _amazing_!"

It wasn't like the orphanage, because while the orphanage was almost empty save for a few designer things in the downstairs area, this house had lots of comfortable chairs, televisions, tables, and other things like it. The door brought them to the living room, which was attached to the kitchen. The kitchen and the living room were separated only by a granite countertop with a bowl of bananas and oranges, and some stools. The living room had a fireplace with a large television over the mantle, and two couches facing the tv, and two armchairs sitting next to the fireplace, with a glass coffee table with black rimming (to match the leather on the chairs), and a similar end table in between the two couches. The kitchen was completely rimmed with granite counters and the only opening was in the middle of the counter that split the kitchen from the living room. There was an oven, a toaster, a dishwasher, a sink, a fridge, and drawers and a microwave on the top. All of it had cream-colored walls and wooden flooring. And there was an arched doorway that led to wooden stairs that went up. Next to one of the armchairs was a glass sliding door that led to the porch with a fancy grill and a large backyard with a fire pit.

"Well, thanks, kiddo. Sit, please," Mr. Jones offered, gesturing to the counter. The other three boys sat on three of the four stools, so Victorea sat in between Matthew and Arthur, with Alfred next to Mattie.

"What can I get'cha? We've got lemonade, Dr. Pepper, Coco-cola, water, milk, and apple juice." Mr. Jones opened the fridge and pulled out a can of Dr. Pepper and two Coco-colas. He gave the Dr. Pepper to Alfred and the Coco-colas to Arthur and Mattie.

"A lemonade sounds wonderful, thank you," Victorea said happily. "I haven't had lemonade in years."

"Well, one lemonade comin' up!" Mr. Jones handed her a can of lemonade, and she giggled. "What's the matter?"

"I've never seen lemonade come from a can before," she examined it. "Where did you get this?"

"Oh I dunno, Wal Mart?" Mr. Jones shrugged. "We like our cans here."

Victorea laughed as the four of them opened their cans. Alfred chugged his as his father grabbed another Dr. Pepper from the fridge, most likely for himself. Victorea took a sip and her smile widened. "This is _amazing_! Thank you, Mr. Jones!"

Mr. Jones laughed. "Well, thank you, yourself, kiddo. I really worked hard on that lemonade," he said with a wink. "I grew the lemons myself, then squeezed them with my own two hands –" he demonstrated with his own large hands – "and decorated the can myself."

"Oh, I bet, sir," Victorea giggled. "I see where Alfred got his personality."

Alfred did a spit-take, then laughed at himself. Mr. Jones smacked him on the head. "Well, unfortunately, yes. A bit of a trouble-maker, but a ladies man," he winked again. Alfred beamed.

"So, Victorea," Mr. Jones took another sip. "I have been hearing lots of good things about you, but I have a lot of questions."

Victorea started to look uncomfortable again. She shifted in her seat, and her smile faltered. "Umm, with all due respect, sir, I'm afraid I'm only comfortable with a few questions."

"Well that's mighty fine," Mr. Jones smiled. "So, where are you from?"

"Well, I'm from Oklahoma. Keyes, Oklahoma."

"I knew it!" he slammed his hand on the counter, making everyone but Alfred jump. Alfred was probably used to this. "I knew you had a western accent!"

Victorea smiled. "I've gotten that a lot."

"So…Where is Keyes? I've never heard of it," Arthur spoke up.

"It's…Well, you know how Oklahoma is shaped, right?" The others nodded. "It's at the very tip of that outstretch of land, in Cimarron County. I'm not surprised you haven't heard of it – it's a really small town."

"And you lived there?" Mattie asked.

"Well, yes. I lived right at the border of it. I kinda lived in the middle of nowhere," Victorea chuckled, but it sounded dark.

"So why did you move here?" Mr. Jones asked. Victorea flinched. "I…Well…M-my father died, and I h-had no other relatives, s-so I came here."

Mr. Jones looked sad. That was one of the few times he wasn't happy was when he was sad (and even more rarely angry). "And how did he die?" If there was one thing about this man, it's that he wanted to know everything, and he was pretty upfront about it.

Like father, like son.

Victorea flinched back again. Arthur placed his hand on the small of her back for support, but she drew a sharp breath and recoiled from his touch. Arthur blinked in surprise, but settled for her shoulder instead. She refused to look at anyone as she said, "He was murdered."

The widening of eyes couldn't be seen by her, but she knew that was what they were doing. The only reason she didn't burst into tears and run was because of Arthur's touch. But it wasn't because of _him_, per se. It might have been because she had not felt a friendly touch in a long time, and this felt good to her.

That was it.

Nothing more.

"I'm sorry to hear about that," Mattie said solemnly.

To everyone's surprise, Victorea scoffed. "No need to be."

"Why not?" Mattie asked, clutching Kumajirou tightly.

"He…" she paused. "He wasn't a good man. He…" Her shoulders slumped. "It's a bit harsh to say he deserved what he got, but…He kinda did."

Silence.

That was definitely _not_ something Victorea would have said.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not sure I understand," Mr. Jones said, "Isn't that a little…severe?"

Victorea shook her head. "He was a criminal who was never caught by the police. Nobody would have been there to mourn for him."

"Is that why you were on the telly?" Arthur asked. Victorea nodded.

"Yup."

"Yikes," Alfred winced.

Victorea shrugged. "It's okay," she looked at all of them and smiled. "It's over. I'm happy to be here now. If I didn't, I wouldn't have met any of you."

"Well," Mr. Jones laughed. "That's mighty kind of you, kiddo. You're a flatterer." Victorea blushed. Arthur thought that was actually kind of cute. _No, bad. Don't think that._ "So what happened to your mother?"

"Oh," Victorea looked sad again. "She died when I was eight."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Mattie said again. Only the Canadians.

Victorea smiled at him. "No, don't be. She's happy in heaven, I'm sure of it."

"Heaven? So you're religious?" Mr. Jones asked.

"Well, yes sir."

"I suppose that makes sense," he laughed. "You seem like a good Christian." Victorea smiled at this brightly.

"So, enough of the depressing talk. How old are you?"

"Fifteen, actually," she said.

"Really? And when is your birthday?" Arthur asked. His mind was already scrambling to think of what to get her.

"Uhh…" Victorea laughed. "Well, its tomorrow. I had forgotten about it until earlier today."

"WHAT?!" the four men (or boys, however you want to say it) shouted in unison. "You never _told_ us that!" Alfred yelled. There was no malicious intent, though, for he was laughing.

"Well, I'm sorry," Victorea laughed at herself. "So much has been going on that I had completely forgotten."

"Oh, so you'll be here for that, then? Good, we can _party_!" Alfred cheered. Mr. Jones, however, looked surprised.

"Oh, father," Arthur gestured to Victorea. "She's staying here for the weekend. It was kind of a surprise."

"What? Well, this is news," Mr. Jones said, crossing his arms. But he didn't look mad. Just surprised.

"Yeah, when we got there, that bitch of a woman that runs the asylum Victorea lives in totally kicked her out for the whole weekend!" Alfred said loudly. Mr. Jones raised an eyebrow at his son, but didn't comment.

"So the woman who runs the orphanage isn't that nice, huh?"

"Not at all!" Alfred threw his hands up in the air dramatically. "She bossed Victorea around like a slave! When we got there, she was _hand washing floors_! And she _yelled_ at Victorea for _talking_! All she said was "yes ma'am"!"

All eyes were on Victorea, who shifted again in her stool. "So she isn't a pleasant woman? Why did she yell at you for that?"

"She doesn't like my accent, and she thinks I'm below her, so I'm not privileged to speak to her unless necessary."

Arthur looked like he wanted to punch someone, and Victorea glanced at him nervously from the corner of her eye as Mr. Jones tilted his head in curiosity.

"Funny, I never knew that we even _had_ an orphanage here."

"Ya, it's literally in the middle of nowhere. We had to use Google Maps to find it." Alfred puffed his chest a little as he added, "That was my idea."

Mr. Jones nodded slowly. Then he jumped and ran out to the back, yelling, "_I forgot about the steak!_" And everyone was laughing behind him.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Well, seeing as you've stuck with my stupidity this far, either you're waiting for the story to get better, or you're bored out of your mind. :P

I've been losing confidence, and I don't know about those "Lazy Day" chapters, because I haven't gotten any requests, but I will continue writing, anyway.

The next chapter is a little unpredictable for me; I thought I would add in a little more than this, but I got lazy.

And a shout out to Arlina'Harris for favoriting! Thank you so much! I won't let you down! :D

Again, I used a picture to describe this house. I'm not creative enough to come up with my own designs, apparently. And I know that my description probably sucked, so I gave the link again :)

.


	7. Chapter 6

"This is _amazing_, Mr. Jones!" Victorea smiled after she swallowed the steak piece. "What on _earth_ did you use?"

Mr. Jones laughed, flattered. "Well, thanks. And I can't tell you anything, it's a family recipe," he winked at her.

Arthur smiled at her. Even when she ate, she looked kind. It was a strange thing to think, but it was true. She seemed to cut delicately, taking small pieces and biting softly, chewing slowly and thoughtfully as Alfred boasted about how good his father's hamburgers were. She smiled a lot, which was becoming more common for her, he noticed. If you broke past her defensive and timid shell, she was quite friendly.

_And cute_, he thought with a blush. He noticed not only how often she smiled now, but how good she looked smiling. It wasn't like Alfred's smile that made most girls swoon, because it wasn't that dazzlingly large and bright. It was soft and sweet.

_No, stop it, Arthur. What are you doing?_ He inhaled through his nose quietly as Alfred began ranting about how Victorea had never been to McDonalds to his father. _She's a friend. A friend._

"Arthur?" he jumped a little as he heard her voice whisper his name. "Are you alright?"

He chuckled a little and shook his head. "I'm fine, love. Just, lost in my own thoughts, I guess."

She smiled at him. "I know the feeling."

Before he was going to continue this conversation, however, he noticed that there were three pairs of eyes silently watching them, two of them an identical smirk and the other a small smile being hidden behind white fur. He rolled his eyes at them. "Really, now. Are you dolts that bloody immature?" They laughed. Arthur noticed, however, that Victorea didn't join along. She was looking down at the table, blushing profusely and appearing rather uncomfortable again. "Don't worry about them, love. They're just being stupid."

Victorea looked at him for a moment – straight in the eye – before smiling and looking back down at her half-finished plate, seeming a little better. It gave Arthur another thing to think about – the color of her eyes.

"So, Victorea," Mr. Jones said with his mouth full, swallowed, and pointed his fork at her as he continued. "How do you like your new school?"

Victorea blinked at him for a moment, seeming puzzled. Arthur couldn't figure out why, it was an easy question. She looked up at the smooth ceiling for a second, before smiling at Mr. Jones. "I think so. The people here are a lot nicer than I thought, and I have friends. And some of the teachers are nice."

"Well, that's good," Mr. Jones continued to eat his steak in large chunks as he continued. "Do yu mish yer owld shool?"

Victorea laughed at his vocabulary. "Well, no. The teachers were okay, but the students all hated me."

"Why's dat?" Alfred asked, his mouth full as well.

Victorea laughed again, and Arthur and Mattie joined her. "You're so much like father." Arthur shook his head. Alfred shrugged.

"Well, I'm not sure," she shrugged. She looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully. "I don't think I'll understand the judgment of other humans. It's like their sole purpose in life is to just hurt others. No philosophy or ridiculous thinking can describe it."

There was a long pause as she sat there, continuing to stare at the ceiling, as the other boys thought about what she said with raised eyebrows. Then Mr. Jones began to laugh. All eyes were on him curiously as he said, "You're one smart cookie, kiddo."

Victorea merely smiled at him and said thanks. Arthur thought about what she said throughout the rest of dinner.

….

Mr. Jones looked around the house for a while, deep in thought, as the four teenagers watched him, trying to hide back a laugh. He couldn't figure out where Victorea could sleep, and he's been mulling it over for about twenty minutes.

Mattie and Alfred were whispering to one another quietly as time went on, and Arthur and Victorea looked on to their conversation warily. "What do you think they're saying?" he asked.

"I don't know, but it can't be good," she replied. Mattie and Alfred were on the couch, while Victorea and Arthur were sitting on the stools. Arthur snickered at this.

"Well, obviously not. It seems Alfred has got an idea, and that is never something good." The both of them snorted quietly.

Of course, neither of them knew that the twins were plotting about them.

…

"Alright, so you're okay sleeping in here, kiddo?"

Mr. Jones finally decided that she can sleep in the music room, and set up a cot for her. Of course, Alfred opted that they all should sleep in the same room like a normal sleepover, but Mr. Jones wasn't too comfortable with letting someone like her alone in a room with three boys. It took a _lot_ of coaxing to get him to believe that nobody was going to rape her.

"_Really_? What kind of sick human would do that to her?" Alfred threw his hands up in the air.

"Well, I'm just making sure," Mr. Jones held his hands up defensively.

"I _promise_ nobody is going to rape her, Pa."

Only Arthur seemed to notice that she was slowly shrinking down, her eyes wavering a little.

Victorea felt the cot she was on. "It feels wonderful!" Her eyes sparkled. She laid flat on it for a minute, sighed, and sat back up with her hands propping her up. "It's the best thing I've slept on in _years_!"

Mr. Jones laughed as he left the room. "What the hell have you been sleeping on? A rock? Well, sleep tight, kiddo."

"Thank you, you too!" Victorea waved to him as he left.

"What _have_ you been sleeping on?" Mattie asked her.

"A hay bale," she replied nonchalantly as she shifted pleasantly in her seat.

Alfred laughed. "You live like Cinderella, dudette."

Victorea laughed for a while. The three brothers didn't quite understand what was so funny, but eventually they began laughing as well. Her laughter was contagious. And pretty soon the entire room was filled with laughter. It was something Arthur would not forget. Throughout the night, all that was heard was laughter. When Alfred tried to be a superhero and save the damsel (Victorea) and hoisted her up bridal-style and tried to jump onto the bed heroically and ended up falling backwards, or when Alfred used his iPhone as a flashlight and they made shadow-puppets (the immaturity of it was what was so funny), and even Arthur's storytelling that had the three others so captivated.

They were all lying down on their cots now, all of them in their pajamas. Alfred was wearing a white tee shirt and boxers boasting the American flag, Mattie had white sweatpants with a long-sleeved white sweatshirt that had a large red maple leaf on the chest (he claimed that he is always cold), Arthur had a green tee shirt and shorts that had diagonal white stripes, and Victorea had a grey spaghetti-strapped nightgown with white horizontal stripes and pockets at the end that went down to her knees.

Alfred and Arthur were sitting next to each other in Arthur's cot with their feet dangling off the side (much to the Englishman's protesting), Mattie was laying in his cot, and Victorea was sitting up in hers, her legs crossed and her fleece blanket pulled up, covering her lap.

The room itself was very beautiful. There were rows of guitars – both acoustic and electric – on stands under a large window on the left that gave them a view of the backyard (which was mostly a small clearing and woods), saxophones, trumpets, clarinets, ukuleles, and many other things were on the wall to the right of the door, making up half of the wall. The other half was a recording studio. There was a grand piano, a drum set, and several percussion instruments set up at the back of the room, and the cots were set up in the middle of the room. On the wall with the door there were lots of posters of many different musicians, some of them autographed.

It wasn't silent, though. Arthur and Alfred bickered a bit about whether the sport was called soccer or football, then about which country was better, England or America, and each time they would ask for Matthew and Victorea's opinion, who would only chuckle and shake their heads. Eventually Mattie joined Victorea on her cot, sitting at the end, so that he was next to Arthur's cot to see more of the action.

"I'm telling you, McDonalds is awesome!" Alfred said in his usual loud voice.

"It is _not_. It is absolutely disgusting!" Arthur crinkled his nose at the thought of the greasy fast food.

"Says you," Alfred stuck his tongue out childishly at his older half-brother. "Your scones taste worse than shit, so how the hell would you know good food?"

"You _arse_, they taste just fine!" Arthur hissed at him, and Victorea and Mattie started to laugh.

"Alright, alright. I think that's as far as we're going with this arguing," Victorea held her hands out in front of her. They stopped, but exchanged a glare.

Victorea decided to speak, "So…I'm sorry, but I really don't understand your lives that much. I need an explanation, please,"

Arthur laughed. "About what, love?" Alfred sniggered at this, but Arthur ignored him.

"Well," Victorea thought, "Your mother…She married…Wait, let me get this," she laughed at herself. "I swear my memory is fading more and more every day. Um…Your mother divorced several times with several guys…And your father-" she pointed to Alfred and Matthew – "divorced your mother, so he married Arthur's mom. But now they are divorced?"

Alfred put his finger on his nose and pointed at Victorea with the other hand. "Bingo."

"Gracious," Victorea put her hand to her head. "And who are the rest of the brothers again?"

Mattie whispered, "Allistor, Dylan, Patrick, Peter, Arthur, Alfred and I."

"Wait, I remember!" Victorea snapped her fingers. "Didn't you say Peter was younger?"

"Yup, twelve," Alfred confirmed.

"So where is he, exactly? Shouldn't he be here with you guys?" Victorea asked.

"Well," Arthur sighed. "He's with mum right now, but he's coming back next weekend."

Victorea giggled, "You say that like it's a bad thing."

Arthur pinched the bridge of his nose. "Well, he's a good kid and all, but he's a bit…Rowdy."

Alfred laughed. "Artie just doesn't like him because he's like me."

Victorea laughed as well. "My goodness, I didn't think there was anyone else like Alfred out in the world." This made him beam with pride. "So what about the other brothers?"

"All married and moved away," said Arthur. "They all live in the country their father," he cleared his throat as he corrected himself, "Uh, _birth_ father, lived in. So we don't hear from them as often."

Victorea tilted her head. "Well don't you call them? Or write?"

Mattie chuckled a little. "Seeing Allistor writing would be something, eh?"

Arthur and Alfred laughed at this. "No, dudette, we don't like to keep in touch with them, really. We – uh, Mattie and I – only saw them, like, twice: once at the wedding, and again at the divorce. Artie saw them a few more times, but not by much. So basically none of us are blood related except for Artie and Peter." He laughed. "Well, we sound even more fucked up when we try to explain it."

This got a laugh from Mattie and Victorea, but a slap from Arthur due to his language.

"So you guys really aren't the picture-perfect happy family, huh?" Victorea asked.

"Well," Arthur glared at Alfred as he made a face, "We aren't a completely peaceful family, but…" he paused. "We still are a good one, even if we bicker."

"Yea," Alfred pointed to himself with his thumb. "I annoy the shit outa Artie, but when he got picked on in sixth grade, I sent the guy who threw him in his locker to the hospital with a broken arm and a concussion."

Victorea, Matthew and Alfred laughed as Arthur flushed a rose color. "Bastard," he muttered.

Victorea smiled. "So you've got each other's backs?"

"Hell yea," Alfred laughed. "I kill people who pick on my bros, and they do my homework."

This received a scowl from the other boys. Matthew mumbled to Victorea as Arthur smacked Alfred again, "He sorta makes us do it. He's really good with science and math, but he blackmails us into doing his English and social."

Victorea mumbled back, "That doesn't surprise me at all," making them both snicker.

Alfred and Arthur stopped bickering as they saw the two laughing at something they had said. "Aw, come on, Mattie! You're taking away Arthur's girlfriend! Some brother you are!"

"_What_?" Both Victorea and Arthur said, appalled.

Alfred began his singing again. "Victorea and Arthur, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G."

Victorea looked like she wanted to melt into the floor, and Arthur felt like punching him. He was making Victorea upset, and he _doesn't _like her! Not like _that_!

Right?

"Knock it off, Alfred!" Arthur thumped his head, and Alfred continued to sing as his half-brother continued to yell, growing redder and redder with every word. "Bloody twit! Sod off!"

"Aw, but you're no _fun_," Alfred stopped singing. "You two _sooooo_ like each other! Come on! I won't look!" He closed his eyes and was about to turn away, but then thought better of it. "No, wait, I gotta make sure Artie doesn't get _too_ carried away. I promised Pa nothing would happen to her," he said with a wink.

"_Alfred Franklin Jones!_" Arthur roared. "So help me, God, I will _kill_ you!"

Alfred laughed, until Arthur began strangling him. It was only temporary, but Alfred easily pushed him off.

Victorea looked so embarrassed that she had no idea what to do with herself. She just stared at the wall, completely dumbstruck with shock. It took her a while before she recovered, but by that time Matthew had pulled Arthur off of Alfred.

"Aw, come on, Artie!" Alfred said, "You know you want her."

Arthur lunged at him again, being restricted by Matthew. "Fuck you," he hissed.

Victorea just watched for a moment, blinking, then got up slowly. This got the attention of the three boys. She walked calmly to Arthur, took his shoulders with a small smile, and gently pulled him over to the cot, sitting him down. He sat there in shock for a moment. He thought she was going to kiss him, but as she did the same thing to Alfred, sitting him back down next to Arthur, he mentally shook himself. _Why would she do that?_

He wanted to melt into the floor, anyway.

Okay, maybe he had a _little_ crush on her. But it'll pass.

Once Alfred and Arthur were sat down, she sat back in her cot, but her legs dangled on the side of the cot this time. Matthew sat next to her. This way all four of them were in the same position, facing each other.

"Now, are we done?" She asked calmly.

The two boys nodded.

Matthew laughed. "Wow, what kind of witchcraft are you using?"

Victorea giggled. "I'm not sure, but it worked."

Alfred and Arthur sat there for a moment. They had no idea what happened to them, either.

"So…Are you guys gonna kiss or something?" Alfred finally asked Victorea and Arthur. Arthur looked like he wanted to explode again, but Victorea stopped him, jumping up and sitting next to him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"No, Alfred. No kissing," she said with an eye roll.

"Aw, boo."

As he laughed, Arthur looked over at Victorea from the corner of his eyes. She was looking back at him, and they both flushed deeply and looked the other way. Before Alfred could make a comment on this behavior, Victorea yawned behind her hand, suddenly looking very tired.

"Tired, dudette?" Alfred asked.

"A bit. What time is it?"

"I dunno," Alfred looked around for the clock. He finally found one on the wall that had the door, right above a signed poster of Eli Degibri (1). It was shaped like a drum. "_Woa_! It's two o'clock! I only stay up that late to play COD with Kiku!" he laughed.

Victorea looked confused again. "COD?"

Alfred was aghast. "You mean to tell me you've never heard of Call of Duty? Like, _ever_?" He was met with a blank stare. "Holy shit, you need to get _out_, dudette!"

Victorea shrugged. "I've never really been into video games, anyway."

Alfred shoved a hand to his chest, pretending to have been shot as he fell backwards off of the bed, his legs still on the cot. They laughed as he attempted to get up, instead having his legs fall onto the hardwood floor with a loud thump. Once he sat back down, he stared at Victorea menacingly. "_How_ can you even _say_ such…such…_Bullshit?_"

Victorea was not offended as she shrugged nonchalantly, as if she had not just destroyed a little bit of Alfred. He counted off with his fingers as he listed, "You've never been to McDonalds, you have never seen the fireworks at the Fourth of July, you've never played _any_ sports, and now you're telling me that you _don't like video games_?! _How_ in the _world_ are you my friend?!"

Victorea looked a little hurt at this, making Arthur smack Alfred's shoulder lightly. "Well, I mean, come _on_, dudette! I don't think I've _ever_ met someone as opposite from me as you!"

"What about Arthur? He's pretty opposite," Victorea pointed out.

"Nah, we've both got a stubborn and loud personality, plus we're both really annoying," he said with a laugh. Arthur smacked him again, calling him a 'git', 'twat', and other English words Victorea would (hopefully) not understand.

Victorea and Mattie laughed as Alfred grabbed Arthurs hand and pushed it away like nothing, with Arthur flushing a deep red. Victorea and Mattie yawned at the same time, and Arthur and Alfred followed. "God _dammit_, why are yawns so contagious?" Alfred muttered.

Arthur stole a glance at Victorea from the corner of his eye, and noticed her eyes were beginning to droop, her back hunched slightly in exhaustion. She yawned again from behind her hand. His heart fluttered a bit at the sight. She was actually kind of cute. But just a little.

He didn't want to dwell on it, because he wanted this to pass. Maybe this wasn't what he thought it was, he could just be catching a cold.

_Which started when I first saw Victorea and hasn't gone away yet. Just coincidence_, he told himself. He can't possibly _like_ her. The thoughts of her being cute and sweet are just something mutual, perhaps Alfred and Matthew thought the same things? Somehow that sent his blood slightly broiling. _Fuck, now jealousy. I'm falling apart._

But as they said goodnight to each other, and as he watched Victorea snuggle happily into the covers she was provided, as if she has never slept on anything cozier, he thought, _Maybe this isn't so bad_.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

I'm so sorry this did not get finished as soon as I had hoped. Since I last posted, I had my surgery, and so far it is not going very well, as my entire foot is now swollen and my toe is clearly infected. It looks nasty. NASTY.

So that is why I've been gone.

I've got a few favorites though! A big thanks to AwesomeHellee9, Arlina'Harris, angel apocalyptica, and Lovethehumor101 for either following or favoring! That was super nice! :)

I REALLY need comments though! PLEASEPLEASEPLEASE don't be shy! If you come up with a good idea for a 'Lazy Day' chapter, I will put your name up to give credit for the idea! BUT I NEED SOME FEEDBACK PLEASEPLEASEPLEASE!

Thanks a bunch!

~Dreampainter


	8. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own Alfred, Arthur, or Matthew. I do however own the father and Victorea.**

Arthur woke up groggily. He instinctively knew that when he woke up feeling heavy and exhausted that he had slept in – which is something he doesn't do often. He stole a glance at the clock and grew wide-eyed.

_Shit._ One o'clock? That can't be right. The sun was shining brightly through the large window, so he knew that he must have slept in for sure.

_I've never slept in this late before. What happened?_ He yawned hugely, stretching his arms out, accidentally hitting a particular American who was sleeping like a rock. Their cots weren't all that far apart, after all. Alfred mumbled something and swatted at Arthur, startling him. He didn't see him there, so being touched was a little unexpected. But Alfred never woke up, he was sleeping on his belly with his face flat on the pillow, his arms and legs dangling on either side of the cot, and his blanket in a pile on the floor on the other side.

_How unattractive_, he thought with a smirk, before wondering why he was sleeping in a cot anyway. Why was Alfred sleeping in a cot? And Matthew was sleeping as well on another cot to Arthur's right, with Kumajirou tucked soundly in his arms, not a sound from him (unlike Alfred's snoring). But there was another cot in between Arthur's and Matthews that was empty, with blankets folded neatly on the end and the pillow fluffed properly.

_Who…_ Then Arthur remembered. He facepalmed, hating himself for sleeping in this late with Victorea over. That was impolite, and not to mention indolent. He almost didn't want to get out of the cot, though. He was afraid that their father would laugh at him and call him lazy right in front of her.

For some reason that thought made him want to go back to bed and wait until she left.

But he got up anyway, folding the blankets similar to how Victorea did, feeling slow and tired. He hated getting up late. It made him forget things easily and usually gave him a headache later on. He decided to take a pill later on beforehand. Once his blankets were neatly folded, he could hear someone shift, and saw Matthew sitting up, rubbing his eyes with one hand and hugging Kumajirou with the other. He looked around dazed for a moment, before resting his eyes on Arthur, who was watching him with an amused expression. His hair was slightly disheveled, and his glasses were still on, crooked on his face after he reached under them to rub his eyes.

"Whatime sit?" he asked groggily in his usual quiet voice.

Arthur shook his head at him. "One o'clock in the afternoon."

Matthew gave a start, suddenly seeming wide awake. He fixed his glasses hurriedly and jumped out of the covers. He's never slept in this late, either, and he appears to have remembered that they have a guest over. "This late? Why didn't you wake me, Arthur?"

Arthur laughed at him as he quickly looked at the clock to make sure this wasn't a joke. In all honesty, it was unusual for Arthur to lie anyway, unless it was for something important, so Matthew believed him. He appeared just bewildered. "I actually just woke up myself."

Matthew froze, looking at Arthur with a raised eyebrow. Arthur shifted on his feet uncomfortably. He didn't like that look on anyone when it was directed at him.

"You're kidding?" said Matthew.

"No, I'm afraid not," Arthur replied. "And I'm afraid our guest is MIA, so we should get dressed and ready before she sees us like this."

Matthew looked at himself, then at Arthur, and nodded. Apparently, Arthur must not look any better than Matthew. They each walked to their separate rooms, completely ignoring the still snoring Alfred. This was normal for him.

Arthur walked into his room as quietly as he could, Matthew right behind him. Their rooms were right across from one another, with Alfred's room next to Matthews. They split up , with Mattie soundlessly opening his door, walking in, and shutting it again, not even glancing at Arthur. Arthur turned to his door and turned the handle, attempting to go as quietly as possible, in case Victorea or their father would hear them. He walked in and shut it quietly, pleased with the lack of sound.

He turned and walked to his closet.

His room was pretty large, with a full sized bed that boasted England's flag pinned on the wall above it, a few posters of famous English politicians (his favorite being Winston Churchill), white walls and ceiling, a ceiling fan, a brown desk and chair with school papers stacked neatly, a little miniature globe and a lamp, a large bookshelf with many books, journals, sketches, and binders, a rocking chair and foot stool, a cuckoo clock, and his closet, with neatly hung shirts and pants, shoes, and a chest at the bottom that had embroidery needles and yarn and embroidery fabric.

He looked around for a moment, pondering what to wear. He pulled out a white shirt and red tie with a green sweatervest, hoping this would be fancy enough. It had been pretty cold out yesterday, anyway. He also pulled out tan pants and his socks and sneakers, expecting to be running around town a bit. It is Saturday, and it might be nice to maybe take Victorea out somewhere to see the town, considering the bitch of a nanny or whatever-they're-called doesn't even seem to let Victorea outside.

He walked out the door and to the room next to his – the bathroom. Matthew wasn't in there yet, so he brushed his teeth and combed his hair and checked his appearance in the mirror, checking for any wrinkles in his clothing or flaws in the hair. Of course there were flaws in his hair. His hair was always disheveled. Hopefully it didn't look too bad.

He took a deep breath and walked out, hoping for little criticism from his father. He walked out to see him sitting on an armchair in the living room, with Victorea sitting politely on the couch, talking. Seeing as his father was facing the entrance to the hallway, it wasn't long before he spotted Arthur.

"Holy shit, boy. I thought you had died," he said with a laugh. He flushed deeply and looked at the floor, apologizing. "Ah, I'm just teasing, Artie. Come sit next to Tia here."

"Tia?" Arthur asked. "Who's Tia?"

"Well, she is!" he gestured to Victorea. "I learned her nickname was Tia, so I like calling her that." Arthur looked down at Victorea and she smiled back up at him, appearing slightly flattered and embarrassed.

"You gave him permission to call you that, right?" He asked with a smirk. "He can be downright curt with some people."

Victorea shook her head. "Don't worry, it's fine. I don't mind." She scooted a little away from Arthur, and before he could even wonder why, she patted the cushion next to her. "Why don't you sit? It's your house, after all."

"Alright," he said with a laugh. He sat down gingerly next to her. His father smirked.

"Now don't start smooching. I would like to keep my breakfast down this morning, thank you."

"Father!" Arthur glared at him. "That's rude!"

Victorea giggled, however, flushing deeply and hiding her face, trying to hold back the laughter. Mr. Jones simply got up, winked at Arthur, and left into the hallway. Probably to wake up Alfred.

He took the time to glance at Victorea, who was still giggling. He didn't know why, but maybe because she thought of the idea as silly. Maybe she didn't like him at all. For some reason, that brought him down a bit. But he really couldn't be sad, her laughter was contagious, and pretty soon he was laughing along with her. "Why…Why are we laughing?"

"Because…Because you…You're face was priceless," she gasped between laughter. She mimicked a completely shocked expression for a split second before breaking out in giggles again. "You're too funny!"

This caught him by surprise. _So it isn't because she's repulsed by me? _Of course, that was still an option; she seems like too nice of a girl to just say that kind of stuff out loud. It took him a moment of thought, which Victorea noticed. "Is something wrong? Did I offend you?"

Arthur was jostled out of his thoughts and hurriedly apologized. "No, no. I was just…Lost in thought, I guess." He hoped she wasn't good at reading expressions.

Of course she was.

She looked at him, her expression exactly opposite of what it was just mere seconds ago. Her eyebrows crinkled in thought, her lips in a frown and her eyes empathetic. She looked beautiful when she looked like this. It showed how thoughtful and kind she was. "What's on your mind?"

Arthur laughed, inwardly disappointed as to how nervous and forced it sounded. You could tell it was fake even if you were as bad at reading the atmosphere as Alfred was. "Now why would you think something like that? I could have just dazed out for a second."

"Nobody goes from laughing to deep in thought within a second for nothing," she responded casually.

He frowned. "Good point."

"So something is on your mind, then?"

"No."

"You just told me I was right. Now you're lying."

A pause.

Arthur chuckled. "Damn, you and your logic."

Victorea smiled softly. "I won't force you to tell me what it is, but you can always come to me when you want to talk about anything. I'm not a blabber."

Arthur looked over at her, sharp green eyes meeting with soft blue ones. He never wanted to look away. "Thanks."

Her smile widened into one of her genuine ones that made his heart skip a little. "Anytime."

Arthur looked away, a bit nervous. "That's what friends are for, right?"

He was hoping Victorea would show some sort of sadness at this comment, guilt, anything negative. But instead she chucked and nodded. "Of course."

_Well, that hurt like a sonofabitch_.

"Yooooooooooo!" Alfred jumped in through the hallway entry. If anything, he was good at entrances. "Mattie said he's gonna make pancakes!"

Victorea and Arthur looked up, Victorea seeming a bit depressed, but smiled nonetheless.

Arthur noticed this. It was a bit harder to recognize her fake smile from his fake laugh, something Alfred definitely could not distinguish, but something made her sad. Maybe she was a bit disheartened by his friendship comment? I mean, what else could she be sad about? The pancakes?

…

"These are _AAAAAAAAAmazing_, Mattie!" Alfred sung when he was finished with his fifth pancake. "More!"

Matthew laughed and passed the plate that was stacked with almost twenty pancakes.

"These really are delicious, Mattie. You should be a chef or something," Victorea said with a smile, her plate clean as well (even if she only had one pancake).

Matthew blushed deeply. It wasn't usual for him to be the center of attention, so when he was, he was always embarrassed. "Well, that is what I'd like to be when I'm older."

"Really?" Victorea giggled at herself. "Well I suppose I was accurate. You'd be the best!"

Mattie hid his face behind Kumajirou, muttering a quiet 'thanks.'

"What does everyone else want to be?" she asked curiously.

"I want to be a porn star!" Alfred shouted. All eyes were on him, bewildered. He laughed for a while at their expressions. "I'm kidding! I'm kidding!"

Victorea's face twisted into a smile she was attempting to hold back, Arthur facepalmed (something he was accustomed to doing when he was around Alfred), his father laughed with him, and Mattie slowly chewed a bite of his pancake, pretending as if nothing happened.

"I'm not sure what I would want to be. I'm stuck on something athletic, like a football star or coach, or maybe something like video game designer. Maybe even something in the math and science fields. Not sure yet."

"Oh yes, you are really good at those subjects," Victorea politely commented.

"Hell yeah. It's just stuff like English and Social that I don't understand. If it doesn't have a formula, then I can't do it."

Victorea thought about it. "Maybe an astronaut?"

Alfred blinked at her for a moment, then his eyes went wide. "That'd be _soooo_ freaking cool! I want to be an astronaut!"

Victorea laughed. "Well I didn't think you'd take my offer seriously."

Arthur scoffed at the idea, but couldn't imagine Alfred doing anything differently. "Fortunately he wouldn't even be on the same planet as me. I like the idea as well."

Alfred stuck his tongue out at him childishly. "Maybe I don't _want_ to be on the same planet as you!"

Mr. Jones held Alfred's shoulders and pulled him back a little. "That's enough, boys."

Victorea laughed at them, and Mattie handed Alfred another pancake to calm him down. Alfred was instantly distracted as he pulled another onto his plate, smothering it in butter and syrup. She turned to Arthur.

"And what do you want to do?"

Arthur shrugged. "I'm hoping to be a politician."

"Really?" Victorea thought about it. "I suppose that kind of job would be something you're good at. They have lots of really smart people there."

Arthur blushed, but the compliment was short-lived, as Alfred said with his mouth full, "Ya, and dey're all sctuck up noobs."

Arthur flushed red and was about to comment, but Mr. Jones slapped Alfred on the back of the head lightly, but it was enough to make him choke a little. "Hey! Why didn't you do that to Arthur when he insulted _me_?"

"Because I can't reach him," his father said simply. Alfred glared at him, then at Arthur. "You're right next to him."

His father laughed, giving his son a noogie. "You're a dork."

"What do you want to be, Victorea?" Matthew asked quietly.

All eyes were on her as she thought. "A veterinarian," she said.

"Well, I've never seen you with an animal before. You good with em?" Mr. Jones asked.

Victorea shrugged at this. "Well I suppose I've been told I am. But I like them, and I like helping them. I don't know if I am, really."

"Don't be modest, I'm sure you're great with them!" Alfred said happily, reaching for yet another pancake.

Victorea smiled. "Thanks, Alfred."

"No probs."

"So what are we doing today?" Mr. Jones asked. "I have nothing planned for the weekend."

"Well," Arthur spoke up, "Maybe we can go around town? The park or something?"

Victorea smiled at this. "Town? I've never been to the town, and I didn't even know we had a park!"

Mr. Jones laughed. "Well, alright then! It's settled! But you've gotta take Peter out with you."

The four teens froze at this. "Peter?" Arthur asked. "I thought he was coming next weekend?"

"No, it was this weekend," Mr. Jones said calmly, biting into his seventh pancake. "He should have been here at noon but his flight was delayed so he should be here soon."

"Cool! We get to see little bro!" Alfred fist-pumped. Mattie and Arthur just smiled, and Victorea looked a little surprised.

"Wait, but…" she looked nervous. "Am…Am I going to intrude?"

"Nah, course not!" Mr. Jones laughed heartily. "You're one of us now, ain't ya?"

"I am?" Victorea looked surprised.

The four boys smiled happily. "Sure you are, dudette!" Alfred cheered.

"Not to rush things, of course," said Arthur. "You've only known us for about a week, after all."

"But you're still like family," Matthew whispered. "And that means that you're welcome here anytime you need us."

Victorea's eyes grew a little moist, her cheeks flushed. "Well, golly I'm flattered," she said in her accent that Arthur found adorable.

No, bad thoughts.

"You're welcome here anytime, Tia. Just say the word," Mr. Jones said happily.

"Tia?" Alfred and Matthew said in unison.

"Yup, that's her nickname," Mr. Jones said almost proudly. "I call her Tia, because Victorea sounds too long for me."

"I like that," Alfred thought for a moment. "Tia. I like that!"

Victorea giggled. "Thanks."

There was a rapid knock on the front door. "Oh, that must be him!" Mr. Jones got up, and the other four soon followed. He took a look back at them and winked at Victorea. "Let's introduce him to our new family member, shall we?"

She flushed a deep red as Alfred patted her on the back.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Good gravy, that took forever and a half.

Sorry about being slow. The surgery kind of took its toll on me, but my mom is trying to get me to walk around and do things, anyway. Which I suppose is good, but it hurts. And it's exhausting.

But I like this chapter, as it is the development of the characters (and the intro to one that I like). My favorite characters will be in the main chapters, but I will still post 'Lazy Day' chapters with other characters as well as the main ones. Unfortunately, I haven't gotten any comments about what to do or who to include, so I'm going to have to think most up. I suppose I should have seen this coming, after all. My stories suck ;-;

Well to those that favorite and followed: a big hug and one of Mattie's cookies! Please review and tell me what I need to improve on and what you think you want to see in this! I would appreciate it and I will give credit to whomever gave me ideas!

I also accept pairings, but I do not do those on my own free will. If you want to see them, go ahead (I don't care if maybe I don't like the pairing; I will pair them anyway).

Thanks!

~Dreampainter


	9. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia, which is good, because if I wrote it, nobody would know what it was or think that it was good.**

"Heeeeyyyy!" Alfred bear-hugged the little boy standing outside the window, and although Arthur couldn't see Peter, he could tell it was him by the sound of his voice muffled by Alfred's shirt and some gagging noises.

"Alfred, sod off! You're choking him!" Arthur grabbed the American's shoulders and hoisted him off of the suffocating child. Alfred laughed and backed off as Arthur turned to see his little brother. He was eleven years old, the youngest in the family, but he had the same mother _and_ father as Arthur, and they had grown up together, so Arthur felt attached to him differently than the rest of his brothers. He had shaggy blond hair similar to Arthurs (he also boasted similar thick eyebrows), blue eyes, and a large smile. He also wore this outfit that their mother thought was absolutely adorable on him.

It was a sailor shirt with a blue collar and a blue necktie that adorned white horizontal stripes, a matching blue cap, high white socks, and black Mary Janes. This outfit was bought by their mother when Peter decided he wanted to be a sailor when he grew up, and seeing as their father was a sailor, they accepted this future with open arms, and it is now his favorite outfit, even after their father was divorced from the family. He was holding the handle of a blue suitcase.

"Hello, Arthur," he said in a small yet loud childish voice. The British accent added a hint of cuteness – he sounded adorable, like a little happy puppy. Arthur got down on one knee and hugged his little brother.

"It's good to see you, Peter. How was mum?"

They released the embrace as Peter shrugged. "She was good, I guess. Work has been a little rough on her, you know?" He always liked to talk like an adult, because it made him feel important. He always felt left out, because everyone else in his family was older than him, and he was forgotten during graduation ceremonies, weddings, college acceptances, and other things like that.

"Well, that's too bad. I'm going to have to give her a ring later, then." Arthur stepped aside so Matthew could see him as well. Matthew and Peter hugged, exchanging a 'hello', but Mattie wasn't too talkative, and Peter began to work with it. Mattie backed off and grabbed Kumajirou from the counter.

Then Mr. Jones stepped in. "Hey, kiddo! How've you been?" he ruffled his hair through his hat, and Peter laughed, attempting to swat him off and straighten it.

"Good. I suppose you've all been the same?"

"Better than good, dude!" said Alfred. "We've made a new friend!"

Arthur rolled his eyes, wishing he could somehow tape his half-brother's mouth shut. He looked down to see Peter a little confused. Obviously, this didn't seem very important to him, so Arthur explained, "Yes, and we'd like you to meet her."

"Her?" Peter raised a thick eyebrow. "Is it a dog?"

Alfred and Mr. Jones barked in laugher (no pun intended). Arthur shook his head. "Come on, then! We can't have all of you standing around all day, lazy bums!"

Peter simply stuck his tongue out, but followed Arthur inside, with Matthew, Alfred, and Mr. Jones walking into the kitchen, the door clicking shut behind them.

"Peter, I'd like you to meet Victorea," Arthur gestured to the quiet girl sitting at the counter, watching Peter with a sort of curiosity. Peter was staring back at her with the same expression, letting go of his suitcase so it was freestanding. They simply stared at each other for a moment, and Arthur began to feel uncomfortable. It was strange, just seeing two people watch each other.

Peter then broke the silence, saying, "I like her."

Everyone broke out in laughter. They knew he didn't mean it as if he had a crush on her, but he was considered a good judge of character. They laughed because she didn't even get the chance to say hello yet.

Victorea raised an eyebrow, smiling nonetheless. "I suppose no hello is in order, seeing as I've already won your approval."

Peter beamed at this. That made him sound important – having someone need his authorization. He walked over to her and looked at her again for a moment. Victorea suddenly looked uncomfortable, having someone standing a mere foot away from her, examining her.

"Do you tell stories?" He asked suddenly. It took a moment for Victorea to process what he said, seeing as it was so random.

"Uhh…Well I've written lots before, but I've never told them out loud."

"Well that's okay too. Arthur is good at telling stories; he can just read one of yours. Where are you from?"

Victorea seemed to register this question a bit faster. "Oklahoma."

Peter nodded. "And what is your favorite color?"

"Yellow."

"Did you ever have any pets?"

"Nope, but I'd love a horse someday."

"Where do you live now? I've never seen you before."

"It's kinda off in the middle of nowhere, and I'm new here anyway."

"Okay…" Peter appeared finished with his random questions, and Victorea laughed.

"What is going on here? Am I being interrogated? I don't understand."

Laughter rung in the room. Peter smiled at her brightly. "I just like knowing these things about people. I can tell who they are and what they're like when I ask these. You're very pretty, by the way."

Alfred whistled at this, and Victorea giggled a bit, self-conscious, muttering a quiet 'thanks.' Then she pretended to scrutinize him, before pinching his cheek lightly. "You're pretty, too."

More laughter. Peter waved his hand in front of him, saying, "Oh please, you don't need to tell me something I already know."

Alfred and Mr. Jones almost died of laughter at this. Of course they could laugh at just about anything, so it really didn't matter.

"Yup," Peter turned to Arthur. "I like her. Now whose girlfriend is she? Is it Alfred's?"

Alfred puckered his lips at Victorea, making kissing noises. Arthur shook his head, unsmiling at this point. He wasn't liking Alfred being that disrespectful to her. "No, she's nobody's girlfriend."

Alfred, however, reached over and hugged Victorea, saying, "Oh yes she is! She's Arthur's girl!"

Victorea looked uncomfortable when being hugged in this manner, but was giggling nonetheless. Arthur reddened deeply, but said nothing, in case it would upset her.

He would kill Alfred later.

"Is she really?" Peter looked wide-eyed between the two, mistaking the embarrassment of the two.

"No, she is not. Alfred is just being a git," Arthur said as calmly as he could. It made his voice as cold as ice, however, and Alfred decided to back off of Victorea, who was really not returning the hug anyway – save for a hand on his arm.

Peter noticed some tension, his eyes darting between the two brothers in confusion, but he chose –wisely – to ignore it and continue on. "So what are we doing today?"

Arthur was glad that his brother asked that question. He didn't want to strangle Alfred in front of Victorea. "We're going out to town for a bit, because Victorea really hasn't seen anything."

"Really?" Peter was excited. "Can we go to the park?"

"Course, dude! And we've got a birthday present for you!" Alfred said, running into the hallway.

Victorea looked surprised. "Is this your birthday?"

Peter shook his head. "No, my birthday was September 2nd." Victorea raised her eyebrows at him, so he continued, "Alfred likes to get me gifts when I come over."

"He must have gotten it early then," Arthur inquired. "He's not usually one to get something early."

"Early?" Peter asked.

"We thought you were coming next weekend. He must have prepared something early for you." Matthew said. Peter got excited now.

"_TAADDAAAA_!" Alfred cheered, handing him a box wrapped in blue and white paper – a perfect fit for the boy.

Peter thanked him quickly, ripping off the wrapping in only a few milliseconds. Underneath was a box that contained a small sailboat and a remote control.

Peter grabbed the box and hugged it. "This is _awesome_! Thank you, thank you, _thank you_!"

Alfred laughed. "No problem, dude! We should go to the park and try it out!"

"Yes!" Peter grabbed it and was already out the door before the others had time to blink.

Mr. Jones laughed. "Well I suppose I will be seeing you. Be home for dinner, though. Arthur," he reached onto the counter, grabbed a wallet, and handed him some cash, "here's some money for a snack somewhere. Have fun!"

"We will, Pa!" Alfred was running out the door as well, Arthur pocketing the money and Victorea and Mattie grinning and shaking their heads. The other three who were not already out the door made their way out to the sidewalk, with Alfred and Peter tapping their feet impatiently for them. Victorea did not notice when Alfred put on his bomber jacket, but there it was.

"So for downtown trips, like to the park," Mattie explained to Victorea, "We walk. It saves gas money, and the trip is never boring with Alfred."

Victorea nodded. "I can imagine. Is he always this full of energy?"

Arthur answered, "This is on his good days. You should see him on the Fourth of July, or the last day of school."

So they began their walk, with Victorea gazing at the quaint houses and lush summer scenery. Their house was on a dead end street, and they walked the opposite direction, and down a rather large hill. The cars drove by pretty fast, but there was a small stream of water that trickled down next to the sidewalk, and dropped a bit into a small waterfall, and to either side of the road was forest. It eventually gave way to a town hall and some houses, where the hill began to flatten out. They walked for a while, taking a few turns Victorea would try to remember for later on.

The entire time they walked, Alfred and Peter chatted with one another, ahead of everyone else. Matthew was behind them, hugging Kumajirou, just listening in to what they were talking about (something about the difference between an eagle and a seagull), and Arthur and Victorea in the rear, with Victorea gazing around at the lavish trees and blue sky and Arthur watching her from the corner of his eyes with a faint smile playing on his lips. She seemed so happy outside.

"So what is this park like?" Victorea asked Arthur suddenly. Arthur took a moment to process what she had said. Her eyes had stunned him a moment when she looked at him to ask the question, and he needed to regain his mental processes.

"Oh, it's really nice. It has lots of nice trees, and a cobblestone walkway with lots of flowers, and Lake Champlain is sort of in there, and we go swimming there a lot. Sometimes Alfred and Father go fishing, too."

"Wow," Victorea smiled, "that sounds nice. And another question?"

"Sure, love."

"Alfred calls Mr. Jones 'pa', and you call him 'father'?"

"Yes, and Matthew calls him 'dad'."

"I'm amazed he hasn't gotten confused yet," she said with a laugh that reminded Arthur of bells.

"Well he's pretty good with it," said Arthur, shrugging a bit.

"So…" Victorea looked uncomfortable. "Why did your mother…If it's not too personal a question," she added hastily. "Why did your mother…divorce all those men?"

Arthur would, under normal circumstances, have gotten angry at anyone who said this. It made his mother sound like a player and a cheater, but he couldn't seem to get mad at Victorea. "Well," he sighed. "I'm not sure. I think that she is searching for that _one_ person, the one who is perfect and will make her happy for the rest of her life. And I think that each person she married did not possess qualities she wanted." Victorea listened intently to his words. "For example, the first person she married was Irish, and he was fun and friendly all of the time. However, she had learned afterwards that he was a heavy drinker and a bit strange with superstitions. The second time was with a man from Scotland, and while he was a great man to be with at a party, he would be aggressive and drink. The third time was with a man from Wales. He was cheerful and not much of a drinker – which was something mum had begun looking for – but he was lazy.

"Eventually she married my father, and had Peter and myself. Our father was a great storyteller and was very kind, but he kind of…I don't know. He seemed to hide it a lot under aggressiveness. He would rarely smile anymore, and when he did, it looked somewhat mean. He wasn't always like that, but I can't tell you when he became cold. That was something that must have happened when Peter was born. He just…Became mean." Arthur paused. Victorea smiled empathetically at him, and that gave him the drive to continue. "Well, after him it was Alfred and Matthew's father. You already know that he is fun and kind, but he was a bit…Unfaithful. He tended to whistle at other women, right in front of mum. He would flirt a lot, too."

"Something Alfred now has, huh?" Victorea raised an eyebrow, smirking. Arthur stifled a laugh, hoping Alfred, Matthew, and Peter didn't hear anything.

"Yeah, actually."

Victorea giggled, but as she looked ahead, her smile flattened out. She thought for a moment, then said, "I suppose nowadays a perfect family is hard to come by."

Arthur became solemn as well. "Well, our families aren't perfect, but they're still better than others."

"Way to be positive," Victorea chuckled. But that died quickly when she added, "I wish I could say the same."

Arthur raised his thick eyebrows in concern. But he smiled and said, "Do you remember earlier when you said I can tell you anything?" She nodded. "You can tell me anything, too."

Victorea smiled gratefully at him. "I appreciate it, Arthur, but I don't think now is the right time, anyway. Besides," She turned her head away so he couldn't see his face, instead looking at the houses on the opposite side of the street, "I don't think you would want to hear it, anyway."

Arthur thought about this. He didn't understand what she meant. He assumed it meant that he wouldn't want her to talk about her feelings, that it was something he said just to make her feel better, and didn't actually expect her to do it. He reached out and patted her shoulder. "Of course I would."

She looked back at him, and he realized she was sad enough to be driven to almost tears, her eyes moist. "No, not like that," she said with a sad smile.

"Wohoooo! We're here!" Alfred cheered, and Arthur sighed.

"Well, that's our cue, love. If you don't want to tell me, you don't have to," he said with a smile, mimicking her words from earlier. "But I want you to know that I will always be here for you. You're a part of the family now, remember?"

Victorea smiled back, looking comforted. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it, love."

….

Arthur couldn't help but peek over at Victorea as she smiled at the scene before them. It was as Arthur described. The park was a large clearing in the woods with a single cobblestone path that led from the road to the lake, and there were flowers of all kinds, tall grasses, and a few swings here and there. The pathway ended as the grass gave way to sand, and the crystal clear lake shone in the sunlight in front of them, with purplish mountains ahead of them – which was Vermont, if Victorea guessed correctly.

"This place is beautiful," she said almost breathlessly. The sun was high in the sky, and there were only a few puffy clouds here and there, and the light breeze kept the five cool in the eighty degree weather. "Do you come here a lot?"

"Yes," Mattie said quietly. Victorea and Arthur jumped, not knowing where he came from. "We come here as often as we can, even to study or draw or read. Of course, that isn't what Alfred does here."

The trio looked over to see Alfred and Peter attempting to open the box, with Alfred using his teeth and Peter pulling with his hands.

Victorea laughed at them. "Should we help them?"

Arthur snickered. "No, let's leave them. I'm finding this very entertaining."

"Me too," Mattie agreed. "Why don't we go sit by the lake?"

Victorea bounced up and down a little on her toes, squeaking a 'yes', and running to a spot at the water's edge that was shaded by a weeping willow tree. Matthew and Arthur looked at one another, a bit surprised at this random behavior.

Victorea sat down happily. Arthur watched as Mattie joined her, feeling happy himself. She was truly beautiful, as if the outdoors fit her like a glove. He walked closer, beginning to hear their conversation that they had already started. "So when did you get Kumajirou?"

The three continued their conversation for quite some time, with Alfred and Peter taking turns playing with the remote controlled sailboat. Their conversation drifted from Kumajirou to Mattie's hometown to Arthur's hometown, Victorea didn't talk about hers because nobody wanted to ask (even if Arthur was still curious), and that eventually somehow ended up as to who likes eggnog and why.

"It's really good, I think," Mattie smiled. "We only have it on Christmas, but it's still my favorite."

Arthur gagged next to him. "Absolutely not; that stuff is putrid."

The Canadian chuckled at him. "Don't mind him, Tia. He only really likes tea."

"Git! I do not!" Arthur huffed. "And since when did you start calling her 'Tia'?"

Matthew suddenly looked slightly bashful. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't even realize I said it. It just kinda…slipped."

Victorea smiled at him. "It's alright. I like the name. At least people don't always spell it wrong like they do with my real name."

Matthew smiled at her. "Thanks."

Victorea shrugged. Arthur shook his head, but smiled nonetheless. Matthew opened his mouth to speak, but was quickly interrupted by his twin brother – a common occurrence, actually. "Artiiiiiiiiie! I'm _starving!_" He whined, flopping next to Arthur in a heap. Arthur flinched away in disgust.

"Don't touch me, bloody-!"

"But I'm gonna _die_! I gotta eat _something_!" he pouted, his dramatic pleas muffled by grass.

Victorea raised an eyebrow in amusement as Peter flopped down similarly next to her. "Me too…" Victorea patted his head lovingly, pretending to comfort him. Matthew chuckled at the mock gesture, but Arthur looked a bit deeper. He saw something almost maternal gleam in her eyes. Matthew probably just either didn't notice or didn't think to look deeper, but she really looked like a mother soothing an upset child.

"Well why don't we go out and get something then?" Arthur stood up, but Alfred was already halfway to the walkway out before his British brother could even brush off his clothes. Matthew and Victorea laughed. "Well then," Arthur huffed. "Where should we go?"

"Oh! Can we go to Rome's Café?" Peter asked, sitting up and close to Victorea, and she stopped petting him.

"Sure, that's a good idea. It's been a long time since we saw Grandpa, don't you think so, Arthur?" Matthew asked quietly.

Arthur nodded slowly. Victorea was puzzled. "Your grandfather has a Roman restaurant?"

All of the four of them got up (Alfred was impatiently hopping up and down on the sidewalk at the end of the park). They walked in a line, Peter next to Victorea, Victorea next to Arthur, and Arthur next to Matthew. Arthur chuckled. "Well, he's really not our grandfather. Everyone just calls him that. And his restaurant isn't really Roman, but he is from Rome, and he would always tell stories to everyone about his home, so people like to call him 'Grandpa Rome'."

Victorea laughed. "And he's okay with the name?"

Matthew nodded, hugging Kumajirou tightly so its legs and arms dangled a little. "Yes, he loves the name. He's a very nice man. I'm sure he'd love to meet you."

Peter laughed. "I don't know if we can leave as soon as Father asked us to, though. He has never told Tia any of his stories."

Arthur made a 'whoopdie-fucking-do' face. "Lovely. We'll be there until three o'clock in the morning, then."

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

I'm so sorry this is late – I had my stitches removed and I went to work at my Aunt and Uncle's farm for a while (the best place EVA), so I was real busy. I will try to get in another chappie or two before my trip to Disney World coming up in nine days.

Also note, I do not actually swear in real life. I like to say other things, but in this I wanted to add a bit of emphasis/humor (I know it failed I sorry ;-;), and that is one of the reasons it is rated T. I think.

I'm not hearing anything from you guys and it's making me sad ;-;. I want to know what you guys think about this, I've had, like, 200-something people read this and only one comment. I want to know what you guys would like for my 'Lazy Day' chapters. I have a few ideas, but I would like it if you could give me a scenario with any of the characters. It could be just Italy walking along the sidewalk, alone with his thoughts (which would actually be mostly about pasta), or it could be a couple pairing, or anything. It doesn't even have to be a character that was introduced yet. Like, if you wanted a bit of awesomeness, I could do a chapter about Prussia or something. But I REALLY want to hear from you! PLEEEEEEEEEEEEASE.

~Dreampainter


	10. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer thingy**: **I've actually not seen all of the Hetalia episodes, believe it or not. I have done lots of research on them, so that is how I know about their personalities a bit (I sound like a stalker. Hehehuhehe…), I've only seen Hetalia: Paint it White and the first two seasons, and that was before I began writing this (I just watched the second season for the first time today, and the first season for the first time yesterday), so there is NO WAY I can own them :P**

"This place is really neat!" Victorea said with a smile. "So vintage!"

The little café was about thirty minutes away (by foot), so Alfred complained throughout the entire trip, with Arthur's eye twitching and Peter telling stories about home to Matthew and Victorea. But the trip was pleasant, and the café itself wasn't bad, either.

It was a small building on a hill, kind of in the middle of nowhere, seeing as there weren't any other buildings nearby. It appeared small, with dark wood walls and a white-slated roof and a chimney smoking, it appeared strange. But there were many windows that peeked inside, and it had the most wonderful view of the purple mountains and lush greenery. It almost looked like a scene from a movie.

They went inside, Arthur practically holding Alfred back from bolting into the kitchen and eating everything. The inside was a hallway that led to one large room, set up with many tables with candle lanterns on each one, a white tablecloth, and fancy salt and pepper shakers. The walls were the same color on the inside as they were on the outside, but there was a brick fireplace that forged a half wall in the middle of the room, and its fire burned brightly. The kitchen doors looked like any normal doors in the hallway, as did the bathrooms, but there were signs hand-painted beautifully on each one that labeled them. The curtains for the windows were lovely as well, a white frilly cloth that was pulled back to let in the sunlight, matching the tables. And a large glass chandelier hung on the ceiling, giving the perfect mix of natural and artificial light. There were shelves with small, old knick-knacks, old china, and other small things that appeared insignificant and ancient, and a grandfather clock. The soft maroon carpet seemed to make everything blend wonderfully.

A cheerful looking man awaited them at the end of the hallway, which had many pictures of the store in its past. It looked like it was really popular at one point. But now, in this large space, there were only a few couples here and there, a family of four, and an old man sitting at a table for one. The waiter beamed at the compliment, his eyes being forced shut at the extent of his smile. "Why, _gratzi _[1], belle."

He's Italian? Nice. But he looked familiar. "Do I know you from somewhere, sir?" She asked politely, but the curiosity was burning her skull.

He had brown hair that was slightly shaggy, not to the extent of Arthur's, of course, as it seemed curlier, but it still had a familiar brown tint. As did his brown eyes, and that smile…

"No, _mio caro_ [2], I'm afraid I have not had the luxury of meeting such-a beautiful-a woman, like yourself." He winked. Then he noticed the boys. "Ah, _i miei piccoli amici_! [3] How are we-a today?"

Peter squeaked a 'good', and Arthur whispered to Victorea, "Don't worry, this is Grandpa Rome. He is Feliciano and Romano's father."

"Really? So that's how I know him!" Victorea snapped her fingers. "Man, that was going to _kill_ me!"

Grandpa Rome led them to their table, a nice spot with a good view of the mountains, and said he would be right back. Each one took a seat in the three-seater chair, the twins sitting together on one side, and Arthur in between Victorea and Peter. Victorea looked around a bit, and then asked, "So are Feliciano and Romano here, then?"

Matthew and Arthur shrugged simultaneously. Matthew said in his usual hushed tone, "They usually work here when they aren't at school, so we might get them as waiters."

"Neat!" Peter smiled. Then looked to Arthur and said, "Who are they?"

Matthew and Victorea laughed. Arthur shook his head. "Other students at my school."

Peter made an 'o' shape with his mouth. Victorea giggled, and as Arthur raised an eyebrow, she pointed to Alfred, who was so absorbed in the menu that it was literally touching his nose, his eyes scanning the paper quickly. "I didn't know that he had that bad of vision," she said, stifling another giggle.

Alfred nodded once, and passed the menu to Matthew. "No, I'm not that bad, I just need to analyze what I want to order properly." He said this as if it were something to be proud of.

Arthur snorted. "Analyze…That's a big word for you, isn't it?"

Alfred stuck his tongue out, and Mattie swatted him with the menu before passing it along to Peter and Arthur, who looked at it at the same time.

"So how is homeschool going, Peter?" Matthew asked softly.

Peter shrugged, not taking his eyes off of the menu as he said, "It's good. A bit boring, considering I only get to see my friends again when we meet up in town, but Mum is a really good teacher."

Victorea peeked over at him. "Homeschooled? Why are you the only one that is homeschooled?"

Peter and Arthur nodded at once, seeming to make a soundless decision, and Arthur passed the menu to her. Peter laughed. "Well, I got in trouble a lot, I guess. Besides, I didn't like school, anyway."

Arthur rolled his eyes. "He was always sneaking into teacher's meetings, and he always knew when they were having a test, so he would tell all of the other students what it was on, and he would _always_ get caught." He raised a thick eyebrow at Peter, who raised his thick eyebrow challengingly back. "Mum didn't want him to get into any more trouble, so she decided to homeschool him."

"A troublemaker, eh?" Victorea snickered. "I never would have guessed."

"Nobody can because of my small size and adorable face," Peter pointed to his cheeks and gave a huge smile. "See?"

Arthur laughed sarcastically. "Yes, because you are just too adorable to resist."

"Well, it's about time you agreed," Peter poked him. Arthur and Peter bickered a little bit after that, with Victorea and Mattie listening intently, occasionally passing glances with an amused smirk, and Alfred was impatiently waiting for a waiter to arrive, checking over his shoulder and over Matthew's shoulder for anyone.

Victorea was so absorbed in their bickering that she did not realize who came up behind her.

"_Bella~_! It's so-a good to see you again! Vee~!" A familiar cheery voice chirped and arms wrapped around her shoulders. She jumped and screamed a little (not too loudly, though), only relaxing when she realized who it was.

"Good gracious, Feli. You almost gave me a heart attack." She patted his hands. "It's good to see you, too."

He let go of his embrace, and she noted that she was getting strange stares from three of the four boys (a particular American was jumping up and down in his seat, excited that their waiter finally arrived. "So, do you-a like my Grandpa's _ristorante_? [4]"

Victorea smiled. "I love it. It's really pretty."

Feliciano smiled and bounced a little, his eyes shut with the force of his smile (it's a wonder how Victorea didn't notice the resemblance to his father earlier). "_Grazi_, [1], bella!" He pulled out a pen and paper from his black shirt pockets. His pants matched the shirt, and his shoes were black as well, with a white bowtie. Must be a uniform. "So, what-a can I get you today?

They ordered their drinks, the twins getting a coke, Peter getting a chocolate milk, Arthur getting some Earl Grey tea, and Victorea getting a lemonade. Feli thanked them and ran off into the kitchen.

Victorea shook her head after him. "He really is something, isn't he?"

Matthew chuckled. "Couldn't have worded it any better, eh?" Alfred and Peter nodded, but Arthur felt a little hurt by those words for some reason. _Jealousy? I thought I was over that_!

Victorea smiled back at Alfred. "So did your analyzing come up with something good?"

Alfred nodded vigorously. "Yep! I'm gonna get the pizza! If they only had burgers…" he trailed off, seeming lost in thought. Only he would get emotional about beef on a bun. Mattie rolled his eyes at his twin. "But their food is really good here! I've never had anything like it!"

Victorea smiled and nodded. "Are the stuffed meatballs any good?"

"Absolutely," said Arthur. "That's what I'm getting."

"Alright, then I'll try that. I love trying new things," Victorea said with a smile.

They chatted a bit, and when their peppy Italian friend came back, they all ordered what they wanted, chatting with Feli for a bit once he gave the food order to the cook (who was Grandpa Rome himself, along with Feli, who was allowed on break).

"So how has your weekend been going?" Victorea politely asked Feliciano, who sat next to Matthew now.

He continued to smile as he said, "It's been-a going wonderful! We don't usually get too-a many customers, and yesterday we got nobody, so Grandpa Rome, Romano and I went out for a walk! It was-a really nice! Vee~! How has your weekend been-a going?"

Victorea smiled back and nodded. "Really well. I haven't had this much fun in a long time. We talked all night long, and Matthew made pancakes, and we went out to the park…It was wonderful."

"You-a had a slumber party?" Feli asked, appearing shocked. "I'm-a surprised that Alfred's father would agree to that, as pretty a _belle_ as you are."

Victorea giggled. "Jeez, what's with all of the compliments recently? And I kinda got caught under some…" she cleared her throat, "Uh, some…difficult circumstances back at the orphanage, so, uh…Yep. So I came to their house. I'm going to be there all of today and tomorrow, too."

Feliciano looked concerned for his friend, but smiled and nodded nonetheless. He was really a good person, even if he was a little ditzy and a flirt. "Well, I'm-a glad you are having fun! It's always good to have fun, right?"

Victorea laughed at the question. "Well, of course!"

They chatted for a bit about simple things, like the weather and whatnot, before Feli had to go back to work. He did so with a smile and a wave, saying a quick 'see you'. Not long afterwards, Victorea's food arrived.

"Wow, this stuff is _amazing_!" Victorea smiled as she delicately swallowed her small portion. "You work _magic_!"

Grandpa Rome smiled. He was the one that gave them their food, which is a little strange, considering their waiter was Feli, but it wasn't unusual for them to be a bit…Unorganized. "Well, a-thank you, belle. We appreciate any compliments given," he said with a wink. "I hope you enjoy the rest of your day. You can leave the bill here on the table when you are done."

So the group of five ate happily, with Alfred finishing his food before anyone else could even swallow their third bite (not kidding), and chatting between mouthfuls of their delicious food. And once each one of them were full, they paid the bill (giving a large tip, as Arthur always did when they went there), and walked home, content.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Woo, that was a fast chappie. Sorry, I just had to get another one in before I leave to Disney World. I will see how far I get into the next one, but if I can't finish it until I leave, then I can't finish it.

That's life, people.

God, my typing has given me a blister on my wrist. I keep rubbing it against the laptop when I type.

Also, sorry that these chapters are so short. I have a difficult time, because my determination comes and goes, and because I have only gotten a few reviews (like three), I really think that I am losing it a bit. But I will continue anyway, even if I'm dragging my feet. I really am pleased with the plot and how it will turn out (again thanks to Air ROD), and I'm still looking out for some other suggestions! Preferably something you would want to see in a 'Lazy Day' chapter. I haven't posted any of those yet because Victorea at their house is really not something that is considered a 'Lazy Day,' because…Well, you'll see why. If you want to see any character in specific (Greece, Romano, Prussia, Denmark, Japan, Russia, or any other ones) I will gladly take up your offer. I would really like to hear what you want to see! (Romantic pairings are an option, too)

Alfred: You better put me in with a hot chick and not a dude, or so help me god…

Me: Put the cheese grater down, Alfie.

TRANSLATIONS:

[1] Gratzi – thank you

[2] Mio caro – my dear

[3] I miei piccolo amici! – My little friends!

[4] Ristorante – restaurant (that should be fairly obvious)

~Dreampainter


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